CVE-2009-0096
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 · uneditedMicrosoft Office Visio 2002 SP2, 2003 SP3, and 2007 SP1 does not properly perform memory copy operations for object data, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Visio document, aka "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 confidenceThis is a memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Office Visio where improper memory copy operations for object data allow remote code execution. Attackers exploit this by crafting malicious Visio documents that trigger the flawed memory handling, potentially giving them full control over the affected system.
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= 2002= 2003= 2007CVSS 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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Confirm Visio installationCheck if Microsoft Visio is installed on the system by looking in Add/Remove Programs (Windows) or by searching for Visio in the Start menu/application listAffected if Visio is not installed - not affected. If installed, continue to next step.
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Identify Visio versionOpen Visio and navigate to Help > About Microsoft Office Visio, or right-click the Visio executable in Program Files and select Properties > Details to see the version numberAffected if Version displays as 2002, 2003, or 2007 - potentially affected. If version is 2010 or later, not affected by this CVE.
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Assess exposure to untrusted filesDetermine whether the system handles Visio files from untrusted or external sources, such as email attachments or downloads from the internetAffected if Untrusted Visio documents are processed - combined with a vulnerable version, the system is at risk from this CVE.
The environment is affected if Microsoft Visio 2002, 2003, or 2007 is installed AND the system processes or opens untrusted Visio documents.
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 the relevant Microsoft security patch for this vulnerability. Until patched, exercise extreme caution with untrusted Visio files and consider disabling the Visio viewer or using enterprise-level file sandboxing for incoming documents.
Upgrade to a currently supported version of Microsoft Visio or Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise
- 1. Identify all systems running Microsoft Office Visio 2002 SP2, 2003 SP3, or 2007 SP1.
- 2. Disconnect affected systems from the network until they can be remediated, as this is a remote code execution vulnerability.
- 3. Obtain and install the appropriate Microsoft security update (MS09-005) if available for your specific version, or proceed with version upgrade.
- 4. If security updates are no longer available for your version, upgrade to a supported version of Microsoft Visio or Microsoft 365 subscription.
- 5. After upgrading, verify that the Visio application functions correctly.
- 6. Reconnect systems to the network and monitor for any anomalous behavior.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-0096 — 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-2009-0096 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
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