CVE-2009-3133
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, Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac, and Open XML File Format Converter for Mac allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a spreadsheet containing a malformed object that triggers memory corruption, related to "loading Excel records," aka "Excel Document Parsing 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 document parsing (loading Excel records) that allows remote code execution through malformed spreadsheet files. The vulnerability affects Excel 2002 SP3 on Windows and Office 2004/2008 for Mac.
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 Microsoft Excel version on WindowsOpen Excel, go to Help > About Microsoft Excel, or check Programs and Features in Control Panel for installed Microsoft Office/Excel versionAffected if The installed version is Excel 2002, Excel 2003, or Excel 2007
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Check Microsoft Office version on WindowsOpen any Office app, go to Help > About, or check Programs and Features in Control Panel for Microsoft Office installationAffected if The installed version is Office 2002 (XP), Office 2003, or Office 2007
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Check Microsoft Office version on MacOpen any Office application (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), then open the application menu and select About Microsoft Office (or About for individual apps)Affected if The installed version is Office 2004 for Mac or Office 2008 for Mac
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Check Microsoft Excel Viewer installationCheck Programs and Features in Control Panel for Microsoft Excel Viewer, or search for Excel Viewer in Start menuAffected if Microsoft Excel Viewer is installed (any version)
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Check Microsoft Compatibility Pack installationCheck Programs and Features in Control Panel for Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word Excel Powerpoint file formatsAffected if Microsoft Compatibility Pack version 2007 is installed
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Check Microsoft Open XML File Format ConverterCheck Programs and Features in Control Panel for Microsoft Open XML File Format Converter for MacAffected if The Open XML File Format Converter for Mac is installed (any version)
Your environment is affected if any of the following are installed: Excel 2002, Excel 2003, Excel 2007, Office 2002/XP, Office 2003, Office 2007, Office 2004 for Mac, Office 2008 for Mac, any version of Excel Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack 2007, or Open XML File Format Converter for Mac.
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.
From vendor dataApply Microsoft security updates (MS09-067) to address the vulnerability. Until patched, avoid opening Excel files from untrusted sources.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-3133 — 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-2009-3133 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