CVE-2009-0087
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 · uneditedUnspecified vulnerability in the Word 6 text converter in WordPad in Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP2 and SP3, and Server 2003 SP1 and SP2; and the Word 6 text converter in Microsoft Office Word 2000 SP3 and 2002 SP3; allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Word 6 file that contains malformed data, aka "WordPad and Office Text Converter 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 confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in the Word 6 text converter used by WordPad (Windows) and Microsoft Word (Office). Opening a specially crafted Word 6 file with malformed data causes the converter to corrupt memory, enabling remote code execution. The vulnerability is triggered automatically upon file preview or opening.
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= 2000= 2002all versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Microsoft Office Word versionOpen Word, go to Help > About Microsoft Office Word, or check Add/Remove Programs for installed Office componentsAffected if Version is 2000 or 2002 (exact versions 10.0 or 10.x)
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Check Windows operating system versionRun 'winver' command or check System Properties, or run 'systeminfo' from command lineAffected if Windows version is 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 (any service pack)
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Verify WordPad text converter is presentCheck for presence of WordPad application (write.exe) in system directories - the converter is embedded in this componentAffected if WordPad is installed and the Word 6 converter module exists on the system
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Confirm file association handling for .doc filesAttempt to open a Word 6 format file (.doc) with WordPad, or check default program associations in WindowsAffected if WordPad is set to handle .doc files or preview them automatically, enabling the vulnerable converter to process the file
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Check for presence of Word 6 converter componentSearch for text converter DLLs related to Word 6 parsing in system directories (typically in Windows system folders)Affected if The Word 6 text converter binaries exist on the system and are accessible to WordPad or Word
Your environment is affected if you run any combination of Windows 2000/XP/2003 with Office Word 2000/2002, or any of these Windows versions with WordPad, and the Word 6 converter component is present and accessible for processing .doc files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedApply Microsoft security update MS09-010 (KB961063) to patch affected Windows and Office installations. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted Word 6 documents and consider disabling the WordPad text converter through file association restrictions.
Upgrade to Windows Vista or later with current security updates; Upgrade to Office 2003 or later with current security updates
- Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-010 (if available for your system)
- For Windows systems: Go to Windows Update or Microsoft Update and install all available security updates
- For Office systems: Go to Microsoft Update and install all available security updates for Office
- If patches are no longer available due to end-of-life status, consider upgrading to a supported operating system version (Windows Vista or later) or Office version (Office 2003 or later)
- Alternatively, as a mitigation: restrict access to the WordPad text converter by disabling the file association for .doc files in WordPad, or use Group Policy to disable the WordPad converter
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-0087 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2009-0087 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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