CVE-2009-0221
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 · uneditedInteger overflow in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2002 SP3 and 2003 SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a PowerPoint file containing a crafted record type for "collaboration information for different slides" that contains a field that specifies a large number of records, which triggers an under-allocated buffer and a heap-based buffer overflow, aka "Integer Overflow 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 confidenceInteger overflow in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2002 SP3 and 2003 SP3 allows execution of arbitrary code via specially crafted PowerPoint files. The vulnerability exists in the parsing of collaboration information records for slides, where a field specifying the number of records triggers an under-allocated buffer, leading to heap-based buffer overflow.
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= 2003CVSS 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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Identify installed PowerPoint versionOpen PowerPoint, click Help menu, select About Microsoft Office PowerPoint. Record the version and build number shown.Affected if Version displays as Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 or Microsoft PowerPoint 2003
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Confirm Service Pack levelIn the About dialog, look for text indicating Service Pack 3 (SP3) or check via Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features > Microsoft Office, looking for the installed version details.Affected if Service Pack 3 is installed for PowerPoint 2002 or 2003
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Verify exact build numberCompare the build number shown in Help > About against known affected builds. For PowerPoint 2002 SP3 the build is typically 10.0.6502.1000 or lower. For PowerPoint 2003 SP3 the build is typically 11.0.5606.1000 or lower.Affected if Build number matches or is lower than the SP3 versions listed for 2002 or 2003
A user is affected if Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2002 SP3 or PowerPoint 2003 SP3 is installed, regardless of build, since the vulnerability exists in the collaboration information parsing within those specific version and service pack combinations.
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 updates for PowerPoint or upgrade to a supported Office version. Implement endpoint protection and email filtering to block untrusted PowerPoint attachments until patches are deployed.
Upgrade to Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 with Service Pack 2 or later, or migrate to Microsoft Office 2010 or newer which includes the security fix
- Check the current Microsoft Office PowerPoint version by opening PowerPoint, going to Help, and selecting About Microsoft Office PowerPoint
- Ensure PowerPoint 2002 is at Service Pack 3 and PowerPoint 2003 is at Service Pack 3
- Open Windows Update (Start > All Programs > Windows Update) or visit https://update.microsoft.com
- Check for and install the May 2009 security update (MS09-017) which addresses this vulnerability
- After installation, restart the computer if prompted
- Verify the update was installed by checking Windows Update history for security update KB967163 (for PowerPoint 2002) or KB968538 (for PowerPoint 2003)
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-2009-0221 — 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-2009-0221 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