CVE-2010-0033
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 · uneditedStack-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted PowerPoint document, aka "PowerPoint Viewer TextBytesAtom Record Stack 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 confidenceStack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 SP3's parsing of TextBytesAtom records within specially crafted PowerPoint files. Successful exploitation allows attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user opening the malicious file.
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= 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, go to Help > About Microsoft Office PowerPoint, or check registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PowerPoint.Application\CurVer, or check Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft Office 2003Affected if Version shown is Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 (build 11.x)
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Confirm PowerPoint 2003 Service Pack levelCheck PowerPoint Help > About, or check Windows Update history, or check registry under HKLM\Microsoft\Office\11.0\PowerPoint\InstallRoot for version infoAffected if Service Pack 3 is installed (indicates unpatched vulnerable state)
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Verify MS10-004 patch installationCheck Windows Update history for security update KB973550, or check registry under HKLM\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{patch ID} for installed patches, or run 'wmic qfe list' commandAffected if KB973550 security update is NOT listed as installed
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Assess user exposure to malicious filesReview corporate policy and user practices around opening PowerPoint attachments from unknown or untrusted sourcesAffected if Users routinely open PowerPoint files from untrusted external sources without virus scanning
A user is affected if they have unpatched PowerPoint 2003 SP3 (KB973550 not applied) and open specially crafted malicious PowerPoint files containing malformed TextBytesAtom records.
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 Update MS10-004 which addresses this vulnerability, or upgrade to a supported version of Microsoft Office. Avoid opening untrusted PowerPoint documents from unknown sources.
Microsoft Office 2003 with MS10-004 security update applied (KB975980)
- Navigate to Microsoft Update or check for available updates at update.microsoft.com
- Locate Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-004 which addresses this vulnerability
- Download and install the security update for Microsoft Office 2003 (KB975980)
- Restart the computer if prompted
- Verify the update was installed by checking installed updates via Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates
- Alternatively, apply any subsequent cumulative security updates for Office 2003 that include this fix
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-2010-0033 — 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-2010-0033 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