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ExcelApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2010-2562

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 Excel 2002 SP3 and 2003 SP3, Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac, and Open XML File Format Converter for Mac do not properly parse the Excel file format, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted Excel file, aka "Excel 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

This is a memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Excel's file parsing logic. When Excel opens a specially crafted malicious .xls file, improper parsing leads to memory corruption that can be exploited to execute arbitrary code with the current user's privileges, or cause a denial of service. The vulnerability affects Excel 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, Office 2004/2008 for Mac, and Open XML File Format Converter for Mac.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update MS10-017 to patch the vulnerability in affected Office installations, or upgrade to newer Office versions that include the fix. Users should avoid opening untrusted or unexpected Excel 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
ExcelApplication
Affected:= 2002= 2003
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 if Microsoft Excel 2002 or 2003 is installed on Windows
    Open Excel and go to Help > About Microsoft Excel, or check the version in the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\{version}\Excel\InstallRoot
    Affected if The installed version is Excel 2002 (version 10.x) or Excel 2003 (version 11.x)
  2. Check if Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac is installed
    Navigate to /Applications/Microsoft Office 2004/ folder or check Application list in Finder
    Affected if Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac is installed (any version) and contains Excel 2004
  3. Check if Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac is installed
    Navigate to /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/ folder or check Application list in Finder
    Affected if Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac is installed (any version) and contains Excel 2008
  4. Check if Open XML File Format Converter for Mac is installed
    Navigate to /Applications/Microsoft Open XML File Format Converter folder or search for it in Finder
    Affected if Open XML File Format Converter for Mac is installed (any version)

The user is affected if they have Excel 2002, Excel 2003, Office 2004 for Mac, Office 2008 for Mac, or Open XML File Format Converter for Mac installed, and they open malicious .xls files with these applications.

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 MS10-017 to patch the vulnerability in affected Office installations, or upgrade to newer Office versions that include the fix. Users should avoid opening untrusted or unexpected Excel files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft Office 2010 or later / Microsoft 365 (upgrade from legacy Office 2002/2003/2004/2008)

  1. Obtain the appropriate Microsoft security update for your product version. For this vulnerability (CVE-2010-2562), Microsoft released security bulletin MS10-038 in June 2010.
  2. For Excel 2002 SP3: Apply security update KB983307 from Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-038.
  3. For Excel 2003 SP3: Apply security update KB983308 from Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-038.
  4. For Office 2004 for Mac: Apply the security update from Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-038.
  5. For Office 2008 for Mac: Apply the security update from Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-038.
  6. For Open XML File Format Converter for Mac: Apply the corresponding security update from MS10-038.
  7. Alternatively, if patches are unavailable for your legacy product, upgrade to a supported Microsoft Office version such as Office 2010 or later, or Microsoft 365.
Caveat Office 2002/2003/2004/2008 are end-of-life and no longer receive security updates; upgrading to newer Office may require file format adjustments and license procurement

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

Fix this in Excel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2010-2562 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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