dbcve.org
WordApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2010-1903

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-08-11
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
Microsoft Office Word 2002 SP3 and 2003 SP3, and Office Word Viewer, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a malformed record in a Word file, aka "Word HTML Linked Objects 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 memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Office Word 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, and Word Viewer allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a malformed record (specifically HTML linked objects) in a specially crafted Word file. The vulnerability exploits improper handling of record parsing, leading to heap corruption that can be leveraged for code execution.

MitigationApply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-036 which addresses this vulnerability, or upgrade to a supported Office version. Until patched, advise users not to open untrusted Word files 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
WordApplication
Affected:= 2002= 2003
Office Word ViewerApplication
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. Identify installed Microsoft Word version
    Open Word, go to Help > About Microsoft Office Word. Alternatively, check the installed programs list in Windows Control Panel or use: wmic product where "name like 'Microsoft Office Word%'" get name,version
    Affected if The version shown is 2002 (version 10.x) or 2003 (version 11.x)
  2. Identify Microsoft Office Word Viewer version
    Check Programs and Features in Windows Control Panel for 'Microsoft Office Word Viewer' or check the file properties of the WordView.exe file (typically in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\WordView\)
    Affected if Word Viewer is installed (all versions are affected)
  3. Confirm Office service pack level
    For Word 2002: Check Help > About for 'SP3' in the version string. For Word 2003: Check Help > About for 'SP3' in the version string. The vulnerability is documented for SP3 but earlier SP levels may also be affected.
    Affected if Word 2002 or 2003 is running with or without service packs (the affected versions listed include SP3)
  4. Verify vulnerability trigger condition
    The vulnerability is triggered when opening a specially crafted Word file containing malformed HTML linked object records. Check if users routinely open Word files from untrusted or unknown sources.
    Affected if Users open .doc files from untrusted or unknown sources, particularly files that may contain embedded HTML content or linked objects

You are affected if Microsoft Word 2002 or 2003 is installed (any service pack), or if Microsoft Office Word Viewer is installed, and users open Word files from untrusted sources.

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 Bulletin MS10-036 which addresses this vulnerability, or upgrade to a supported Office version. Until patched, advise users not to open untrusted Word files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016 (any current supported Office version)

  1. 1. Identify all systems running Microsoft Office Word 2002 SP3, Word 2003 SP3, or Office Word Viewer.
  2. 2. Backup all important documents and files before making changes.
  3. 3. Uninstall the affected versions of Microsoft Office Word or Office Word Viewer from each affected system.
  4. 4. Install a current, supported version of Microsoft Office (such as Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016).
  5. 5. Alternatively, if organizational constraints prevent upgrading, apply the Microsoft security update MS10-036 if still available through Microsoft Update or your organization's patch management system.
  6. 6. After installation, verify that Microsoft Office is functioning correctly and all updates have been applied.
Caveat Newer Office versions may have changed file format compatibility, UI differences, and system requirements; ensure add-ins and macros are tested for compatibility

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

Fix this in Word Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2010-1903 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