CVE-2009-3127
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 Excel 2002 SP3 and 2003 SP3, Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac, Open XML File Format Converter for Mac, and Office Excel Viewer 2003 SP3 do not properly parse the Excel file format, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted spreadsheet, aka "Excel Cache 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 Microsoft Excel's file format parser allows remote code execution through specially crafted Excel spreadsheet files. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of cached memory when parsing Excel files.
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= 2007= 2002= 2003= 2007all versions= 2003= 2004= 2008all 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 for Microsoft Excel installationOpen Excel and go to Help > About Microsoft Excel, or check Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft ExcelAffected if Excel version is 2002, 2003, or 2007
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Verify Microsoft Office suite versionOpen any Office application and go to Help > About, or check Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft OfficeAffected if Office version is 2004 or 2008 and includes the Excel component
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Detect Microsoft Excel ViewerSearch Add/Remove Programs for Excel Viewer or check Program Files for Excel Viewer installationAffected if Excel Viewer is present (any version)
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Identify Microsoft Compatibility PackCheck Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPointAffected if Compatibility Pack version is 2007
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Check for Open XML File Format ConverterSearch Add/Remove Programs or Program Files for Microsoft Open XML File Format ConverterAffected if Converter is installed (any version)
User is affected if any Excel-related product from the list above is installed in the specified vulnerable versions, and they open specially crafted Excel 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 updates (MS09-067) to all affected Excel installations; enable Protected View for files from untrusted sources and disable macros in Excel unless required.
Microsoft Office 2016 or later / Office 365
- Upgrade to a currently supported version of Microsoft Office (Office 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016) which is not affected by this vulnerability
- Alternatively, apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-067 patches for legacy versions if extended support is still available
- Ensure all Microsoft Office applications are updated through Windows Update or the Microsoft Update catalog
- For Mac systems, update Office for Mac to a supported version through AutoUpdate
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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 locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-3127 — 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-2009-3127 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