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ExcelApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2010-1248

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
Buffer overflow in Microsoft Office Excel 2002 SP3 and Office 2004 for Mac allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via an Excel file with a malformed HFPicture (0x866) record, aka "Excel HFPicture 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

Buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel's parsing of HFPicture (0x866) records allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via malicious Excel files with malformed record data causing memory corruption.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update MS10-038 or upgrade to a supported Office version (Office 2007 or later) that is not vulnerable to this issue.

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

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 check the executable version at Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX\EXCEL.EXE (where XX is the office version number, or check registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\AppVersions or older Office registry paths)
    Affected if The installed version is Excel 2002 (Office XP) or earlier (Excel 2000, 97)
  2. Check installed Microsoft Office version
    Open any Office application, go to Help > About, or check the Office installation folder version, or check registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\{version}\Common\InstallRoot
    Affected if The installed version is Office 2004 (Mac) or Office XP (2002) or earlier
  3. Verify Excel file parsing component presence
    Confirm that Excel can open and parse .xls files - the vulnerability exists in the HFPicture (0x866) record parsing routine within the Excel binary
    Affected if Excel is installed and can open .xls files, meaning the vulnerable parsing code is present
  4. Check for security update MS10-038 installation
    Check Windows Update history or the installed updates list for security update MS10-038 (June 2010 security update for Microsoft Office)
    Affected if MS10-038 is not installed and the Office/Excel version falls within the affected range

You are affected if you are running Excel 2002 or Office 2004 (or earlier versions) without the MS10-038 security update installed, as the vulnerable HFPicture record parsing code is present in these versions.

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 update MS10-038 or upgrade to a supported Office version (Office 2007 or later) that is not vulnerable to this issue.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Microsoft Office 2016 or later (current subscription: Microsoft 365 Apps)

  1. Upgrade from Microsoft Office Excel 2002 SP3 and Office 2004 for Mac to a supported, current version of Microsoft Office
  2. Ensure the upgraded installation receives the latest security updates through Microsoft Update
  3. Alternatively, if upgrade is not feasible, apply any available Microsoft security patches for Office 2002 and Office 2004 from Microsoft's security bulletin archive (MS10-017 relates to Excel vulnerabilities from this timeframe)
  4. Verify the Excel application version after upgrade to confirm the vulnerability is addressed
Caveat Upgrading from Office 2002/2004 to modern Office may require file format migration; older .xls files will open in compatibility mode; some legacy features may be deprecated

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

Fix this in Excel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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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-2010-1248 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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