CVE-2010-1246
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 Excel 2002 SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via an Excel file with a malformed RTD (0x813) record, aka "Excel RTD 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 confidenceStack-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Office Excel 2002 SP3 triggered by opening a malicious Excel file containing a malformed RTD (0x813) record, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via memory corruption on the stack.
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= 2002CVSS 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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Confirm Excel 2002 is installedOpen Excel, go to Help > About Microsoft Excel, or check Programs and Features for Microsoft Office Excel 2002Affected if Excel 2002 is listed as installed on the system
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Verify the exact Excel version and Service PackCheck the exact version by opening Excel, clicking Help > About, or running: excel.exe /? from command line, or checking registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Application\CurVerAffected if The version shows Microsoft Excel 2002 without Service Pack 3 or an earlier version
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Check if the system receives regular Office security updatesRun Windows Update or check the installed updates for any Microsoft security patches related to ExcelAffected if No recent Office security updates are installed or the system is not configured for automatic updates
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Determine user behavior regarding opening Excel filesReview how users typically handle Excel attachments or files from external sourcesAffected if Users routinely open Excel files from untrusted or unknown sources without prior scanning
The environment is affected if Excel 2002 SP3 or earlier is installed and users open Excel files from untrusted sources, as the vulnerability is triggered by parsing a malformed RTD (0x813) record in a maliciously crafted Excel file.
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 patches for Office Excel 2002 SP3 and avoid opening untrusted Excel files from unknown sources to prevent exploitation.
Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016 (all contain the security fix and are currently supported)
- 1. Microsoft Office Excel 2002 is no longer supported by Microsoft and no longer receives security updates.
- 2. Upgrade to a currently supported Microsoft Office version (such as Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016) which includes the security fix for this vulnerability.
- 3. Verify that all Microsoft Office applications are updated to the latest version after migration.
- 4. Ensure antivirus/anti-malware solutions are active and up-to-date as an additional layer of protection.
- 5. Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized code or macros.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,848.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-1246 — 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-2010-1246 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