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OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2008-4837

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-12-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Stack-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Office Word 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, and 2007 Gold and SP1; Word Viewer 2003 Gold and SP3; Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats Gold and SP1; and Microsoft Works 8 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Word document that contains a malformed table property, which triggers memory corruption, aka "Word Memory Corruption Vulnerability."

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Stack-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Word's handling of malformed table properties within crafted .doc files. The vulnerability allows remote arbitrary code execution through memory corruption when a user opens a specially crafted Word document, enabling full system compromise.

MitigationDeploy Microsoft security updates (MS09-010) to all affected Microsoft Office Word versions, Word Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack, and Microsoft Works installations. Until patched, enforce strict policy against opening untrusted or unexpected Word documents and enable Protected View in Office.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
OfficeApplication
Affected:= 2004= 2008
Office Compatibility Pack For Word Excel Ppt 2007Application
Affected:all versions
Office Word ViewerApplication
Affected:= 2003
Open Xml File Format ConverterApplication
Affected:all versions
WorksApplication
Affected:= 8.0
Office OutlookApplication
Affected:= 2007
Office WordApplication
Affected:= 2000= 2002= 2003= 2007

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Microsoft Office Word version
    Open Word, go to Help > About Microsoft Office Word, or check Programs and Features for the installed version
    Affected if Version is 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2007
  2. Check Microsoft Office suite version
    Open any Office app, go to Help > About, or check registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\InstallRoot for Office version
    Affected if Office version is 2004 or 2008 for Mac
  3. Verify Word Viewer installation
    Check Programs and Features for Microsoft Office Word Viewer, or check registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Word\Viewer
    Affected if Word Viewer version 2003 is installed
  4. Check Office Compatibility Pack presence
    Check Programs and Features for Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word Excel PowerPoint 2007
    Affected if Any version of Office Compatibility Pack is installed
  5. Check Microsoft Works installation
    Check Programs and Features for Microsoft Works, or check registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Works
    Affected if Microsoft Works version 8.0 is installed
  6. Check Open XML File Format Converter
    Check Programs and Features for Microsoft Open XML File Format Converter
    Affected if Any version of Open XML File Format Converter is installed

A system is affected if any of the following are true: Microsoft Office Word version 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2007 is installed; Office 2004 or 2008 for Mac is present; Office Compatibility Pack, Word Viewer 2003, Works 8.0, or Open XML File Format Converter is installed, AND a user opens a specially crafted .doc file containing malformed table properties.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Deploy Microsoft security updates (MS09-010) to all affected Microsoft Office Word versions, Word Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack, and Microsoft Works installations. Until patched, enforce strict policy against opening untrusted or unexpected Word documents and enable Protected View in Office.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft Office 2016 or later / Microsoft 365

  1. Upgrade to a currently supported version of Microsoft Office (Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016)
  2. Ensure the operating system meets the minimum requirements for the new Office version
  3. After upgrade, verify all critical business documents and macros function correctly in the new environment
Caveat Legacy features from Office 2000-2007 may not be supported; macro compatibility should be tested; some document formatting changes may occur

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-4837 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data