CVE-2010-3214
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 Word 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2, and 2010; Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac; Open XML File Format Converter for Mac; Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP2; Word Viewer; Office Web Apps; and Word Web App allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Word document, aka "Word Stack Overflow 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 confidenceA stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Word and related Office products allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by tricking users into opening a specially crafted Word document. The overflow occurs when Word processes malformed data structures within the document, causing stack memory corruption that can be leveraged to hijack execution flow.
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= 2004= 2008= 2007all versionsall versions= 2002= 2003= 2007= 2010all versionsall versionsCVSS 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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Locate Microsoft Word installationSearch for WINWORD.EXE on the system - typically found in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX\ (where XX is the Office version number) or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\ if using 32-bit Office on 64-bit WindowsAffected if WINWORD.EXE is not found, the product is not installed and is not affected
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Check Word version numberRight-click on WINWORD.EXE, select Properties, then view the Details tab to see the File Version. Alternatively, open Word and go to File > Help to display version informationAffected if Version matches 2002 (10.x), 2003 (11.x), 2007 (12.x), or 2010 (14.x)
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Check for Microsoft Office installationLook for Microsoft Office installation in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\ or check Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft Office entriesAffected if Office 2004 (11.x), 2008 (12.x), or 2007 (12.x) is installed
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Check for Word ViewerSearch for WORDVIEW.EXE in Program Files, typically in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Word Viewer\ or check Add/Remove Programs for Microsoft Word ViewerAffected if Word Viewer is installed (any version)
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Check for Office Compatibility PackCheck Add/Remove Programs for 'Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats' or look for ExcelCNV.EXE and WINWORD.EXE in the Office12 compatibility pack folderAffected if Office Compatibility Pack for 2007 is installed
System is affected if any Microsoft Word version 2002, 2003, 2007, or 2010 is installed, or if Word Viewer, Office 2004/2008, or the Office Compatibility Pack 2007 is present, as all these contain the vulnerable Word parsing code.
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 updates (MS10-056 and related patches) to all affected Word versions and Office products; instruct users to avoid opening untrusted or unexpected Word documents from unknown sources.
Microsoft Office 2016 or later (or Office 365)
- Apply Microsoft security update MS10-056 (the official patch for this vulnerability) if still running affected versions
- Upgrade to a supported version of Microsoft Office (Office 2016 or later recommended)
- Ensure Windows Update is enabled and all security updates are applied
- After upgrading, verify the installation by checking Office version information in File > Account
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-3214 — 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-2010-3214 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