dbcve.org
Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 28 Jan 2026.
Office PowerpointApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2009-0556

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2009-04-03
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Remotely reachable No privileges Patch available

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
Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, and 2003 SP3, and PowerPoint in Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a PowerPoint file with an OutlineTextRefAtom containing an an invalid index value that triggers memory corruption, as exploited in the wild in April 2009 by Exploit:Win32/Apptom.gen, 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 confidence

Microsoft Office PowerPoint contains a memory corruption vulnerability in the OutlineTextRefAtom parsing routine. When processing a specially crafted PowerPoint file with an invalid index value, the application experiences memory corruption that can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code. This is a client-side vulnerability that requires user interaction (opening a malicious file).

MitigationDeploy Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-017 which contains the patch for this vulnerability, or update Microsoft Office to a version that includes the fix. Additionally, consider restricting PowerPoint file attachments from untrusted sources and enabling macro blocking.

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
Office PowerpointApplication
Affected:= 2004
PowerpointApplication
Affected:= 2000= 2002= 2003

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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 PowerPoint executable version
    Open PowerPoint, click Help menu, select About Microsoft Office PowerPoint (or About Microsoft PowerPoint depending on version). Alternatively, right-click the PowerPoint executable (POWERPNT.EXE) in Program Files, select Properties, and check the Details tab for version information.
    Affected if Version is 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2004 (or any version matching those year identifiers)
  2. Check Microsoft Office PowerPoint version if standalone Office suite
    If using Microsoft Office suite, open any Office application, go to Help > About Microsoft Office [Application Name] to confirm the full Office suite version including PowerPoint component.
    Affected if Office suite version includes PowerPoint 2004 component
  3. Verify OutlineTextRefAtom parsing is accessible
    This is an internal file format structure. The vulnerability exists in how PowerPoint parses the OutlineTextRefAtom record within specially crafted .ppt files. No specific user-configurable setting controls this; it is a parsing code flaw.
    Affected if Affected PowerPoint version is installed and the application can open .ppt files
  4. Assess file opening exposure
    Determine whether users in the environment can open PowerPoint files from external sources, email attachments, or untrusted network locations.
    Affected if Users can open untrusted or downloaded PowerPoint files using the affected PowerPoint version

Environment is affected if any installed instance of PowerPoint is version 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2004 AND users can open potentially untrusted PowerPoint files, as the vulnerability is triggered by parsing a malformed OutlineTextRefAtom record in a crafted .ppt file.

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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch www.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Deploy Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-017 which contains the patch for this vulnerability, or update Microsoft Office to a version that includes the fix. Additionally, consider restricting PowerPoint file attachments from untrusted sources and enabling macro blocking.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016 (or later supported versions)

  1. 1. Obtain and install a currently supported version of Microsoft Office (such as Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016) from the official Microsoft website or through your organization's volume licensing center.
  2. 2. Ensure Windows Update is enabled and run updates to receive the latest security patches for the new Office installation.
  3. 3. Verify the installation was successful by opening PowerPoint and checking the version information under File > Account > About PowerPoint.
  4. 4. If using Office 2004 for Mac, upgrade to a supported version of Microsoft Office for Mac (such as Microsoft 365 for Mac or Office 2019 for Mac).
  5. 5. Scan any existing PowerPoint files with an up-to-date antivirus solution before opening them, as a precautionary measure during the transition period.
Caveat Upgrading from Office 2000-2003 may introduce UI changes and possible compatibility issues with legacy file formats or macros; test critical workflows before broad deployment

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

Fix this in Office Powerpoint Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get it fixed fast

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

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-0556 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2009-0556 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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