CVE-2009-1131
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 · uneditedMultiple stack-based buffer overflows in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2000 SP3 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a large amount of data associated with unspecified atoms in a PowerPoint file that triggers memory corruption, aka "Data Out of Bounds 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 confidenceCVE-2009-1131 is a critical stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2000 SP3. The vulnerability is triggered when processing specially crafted PowerPoint files containing malformed atoms with excessive data, causing memory corruption and allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via the 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= 2000CVSS 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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Verify PowerPoint 2000 is installedOpen PowerPoint and go to Help > About Microsoft PowerPoint, or check Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft PowerPoint 2000Affected if PowerPoint 2000 is listed as installed
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Confirm the exact PowerPoint versionRun the command 'winword.exe /?' if Word is installed alongside, or check the file version of PPT.EXE in the Office installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\)Affected if The version shows as 9.0.x (where 9.0 indicates Office 2000)
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Check if security update MS09-017 is appliedRun 'wmic qfe list' or check Windows Update history for security update 957834, or verify via registry key under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\UpdateIDAffected if Security update 957834 (MS09-017) is NOT listed as installed
If PowerPoint 2000 is installed and security update MS09-017 (KB957834) is missing, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2009-1131.
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 Bulletin MS09-017 which patches the vulnerability in PowerPoint 2000 SP3, or upgrade to a supported version of Microsoft Office. Avoid opening untrusted PowerPoint files from unknown sources.
Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 or later (with latest service pack and security updates)
- Upgrade from Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2000 to a supported version such as Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003, 2007, or 2010
- Apply the latest Microsoft Security Updates for the new Office installation via Windows Update
- Alternatively, if upgrade is not immediately possible, disable the PowerPoint embedded file preview in Microsoft Outlook to reduce attack surface
- Ensure antivirus/anti-malware software is up to date and scan any received PowerPoint files before opening
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-1131 — 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-2009-1131 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