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Visual Basic For ApplicationsApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2010-0815

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-05-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
VBE6.DLL in Microsoft Office XP SP3, Office 2003 SP3, 2007 Microsoft Office System SP1 and SP2, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and VBA SDK 6.3 through 6.5 does not properly search for ActiveX controls that are embedded in documents, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted document, aka "VBE6.DLL Stack 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

A stack memory corruption vulnerability exists in VBE6.DLL (Visual Basic for Applications engine) across Microsoft Office XP/2003/2007 and VBA SDK 6.3-6.5. The DLL fails to properly validate or handle ActiveX controls embedded in documents during the search operation, allowing a maliciously crafted Office document to trigger memory corruption and achieve arbitrary code execution.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates addressing this CVE, and implement controls to block or warn on opening untrusted Office documents from unknown sources.

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
Visual Basic For ApplicationsApplication
Affected:all versions
Visual Basic SdkApplication
Affected:= 6.3= 6.4= 6.5
OfficeApplication
Affected:= 2003= 2007= xp

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify VBE6.DLL presence
    Search for VBE6.DLL on the system: typically located in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VBA\VBA6\ or C:\Windows\System32\ (for older Office versions). Use 'dir /s C:\VBE6.DLL' or PowerShell 'Get-ChildItem -Path C:\ -Filter VBE6.DLL -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue'.
    Affected if VBE6.DLL is found on the system, indicating Microsoft VBA engine is installed.
  2. Identify installed Microsoft Office version
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\{version}\Common\InstallRoot, or run 'winword /?' from Command Prompt to display version info.
    Affected if Installed Office version is 2003, 2007, or XP (as listed in affected versions).
  3. Check VBA component registration
    Open Command Prompt and run 'reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib\{000204EF-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\6.0' or 'reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib\{000204EF-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\6.1' to check if VBA type library is registered.
    Affected if VBA type library (versions 6.0 or 6.1) is registered, confirming VBA engine is available.
  4. Verify VBA enabled in Office applications
    Open any Office application (Word, Excel, Outlook), go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Macro Settings, and check if 'Enable VBA macros' or similar option is present/enabled.
    Affected if VBA macro execution is enabled or available in the Office application.

The system is affected if VBE6.DLL is present AND the installed Office version is 2003, 2007, or XP (or VBA version 6.3-6.5), combined with VBA macro functionality being enabled, allowing malicious ActiveX control execution via documents.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates addressing this CVE, and implement controls to block or warn on opening untrusted Office documents from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft Office Service Pack 3 for XP/2003, or Office 2007 SP3; Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-036 provides the specific patch

  1. Open Microsoft Update or Windows Update to check for available security updates
  2. Locate security bulletin MS10-036 (VBE6.DLL Stack Memory Corruption Vulnerability)
  3. Apply the security update for your specific version of Microsoft Office (XP SP3, 2003 SP3, or 2007 SP1/SP2)
  4. If using Visual Basic for Applications or VBA SDK 6.3-6.5, apply the corresponding update
  5. Restart the computer after applying the update
  6. Verify the VBE6.DLL version matches the patched version (check file properties)
Caveat Office XP and 2003 mainstream support has ended; applying patches to older unsupported versions may have compatibility implications

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

Fix this in Visual Basic For Applications Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,280
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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-2010-0815 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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