ExcelApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2010-1245

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-06-08
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
Unspecified vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel 2002 SP3, Office 2004 for Mac, Office 2008 for Mac, and Open XML File Format Converter for Mac allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via an Excel file with a malformed SxView (0xB0) record, aka "Excel Record Memory Corruption Vulnerability," a different vulnerability than CVE-2010-0824 and CVE-2010-0821.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Excel allows remote code execution via specially crafted Excel files containing malformed SxView (0xB0) records. The vulnerability affects Excel 2002 SP3 and multiple Mac Office versions. Successful exploitation gives attackers arbitrary code execution capabilities.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates for the affected Office products and exercise caution when opening Excel files from untrusted 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
ExcelApplication
Affected:= 2002
OfficeApplication
Affected:= 2004= 2008
Open Xml File Format ConverterApplication
Affected:all versions

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. Check installed Microsoft Excel version
    Open Excel, go to Help > About Microsoft Excel, or run: winword.exe /? (for Office) or check Add/Remove Programs for Excel version
    Affected if Version is Excel 2002 (any service pack)
  2. Check installed Microsoft Office version
    Open any Office app, go to Help > About, or check Add/Remove Programs for Office version
    Affected if Version is Office 2004 (Mac) or Office 2008 (Mac)
  3. Check if Microsoft Open Xml File Format Converter is installed
    Check Add/Remove Programs (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac) for 'Microsoft Open XML File Format Converter' entry
    Affected if Converter is installed (all versions are affected)
  4. Verify Excel file handling is enabled
    Confirm Excel is set as the default handler for .xls files, or the Open XML File Format Converter is active for file conversions
    Affected if Excel or the converter processes .xls/.xlsx files

User is affected if Excel 2002, Office 2004, Office 2008, or Open XML File Format Converter is installed and the system handles Excel files.

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 for the affected Office products and exercise caution when opening Excel files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft Office 2010 or later (including Microsoft 365) for Windows; Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac or later

  1. Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-038 which addresses CVE-2010-1245
  2. For Excel 2002 SP3: Install security update KB983316 from Microsoft Update
  3. For Office 2004 for Mac: Install security update from Microsoft or migrate to newer Office version
  4. For Office 2008 for Mac: Install security update from Microsoft or migrate to newer Office version
  5. For Open XML File Format Converter for Mac: Uninstall or replace with supported alternatives
  6. Verify no Excel files from untrusted sources are opened until patches are applied
  7. After patching, validate system is protected by reviewing installed updates
Caveat Old Mac Office versions (2004/2008) are long-unsupported; legacy file format compatibility may be affected when moving to newer versions; ensure macro/settings are reviewed after upgrade

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

Fix this in Excel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2010-1245 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
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