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OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2010-3216

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-10-13
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 Word 2002 SP3 and Office 2004 for Mac allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Word document containing bookmarks that trigger use of an invalid pointer and memory corruption, aka "Word Bookmarks 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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2002 SP3 and Office 2004 for Mac where specially crafted Word documents containing malicious bookmarks trigger use of an invalid pointer, leading to arbitrary code execution.

MitigationApply Microsoft security patches for CVE-2010-3216 or upgrade to supported versions of Microsoft Office; avoid opening untrusted Word documents 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
OfficeApplication
Affected:= 2004
WordApplication
Affected:= 2002

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 Microsoft Word version on Windows
    Open WinWord.exe, go to Help > About Microsoft Word, or run 'winword.exe /?' and note the version number in the banner
    Affected if Version is 2002 (any Service Pack, specifically 10.0.xxxx) - compare to affected product list
  2. Check Microsoft Office version on Windows
    Open any Office app (e.g., Word), go to Help > About Microsoft Office, or check registry key HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Office\<version>\Common\InstallRoot
    Affected if Office version detected is 2002 (10.x) - compare to affected product list
  3. Check Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac version
    Open any Office 2004 for Mac application, go to the application menu > About, or check the Application folder for Office 2004 version information
    Affected if Office version is 2004 for Mac (11.x) - compare to affected product list
  4. Verify if Word documents from untrusted sources are opened
    Review user behavior and email/web filtering policies for handling .doc files from unknown or untrusted sources
    Affected if Users routinely open Word documents from untrusted or unknown sources without virus scanning

Environment is affected if Microsoft Word 2002 (any SP) or Office 2004 for Mac is installed AND users open Word documents, particularly from untrusted sources, as the vulnerability triggers via specially crafted malicious bookmark data in .doc files.

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 patches for CVE-2010-3216 or upgrade to supported versions of Microsoft Office; avoid opening untrusted Word documents from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2016/2019 or Microsoft 365 (currently supported versions) - the affected products (Word 2002 SP3 and Office 2004 for Mac) are end-of-life and no longer receive security updates

  1. 1. Disconnect the affected system from the network to prevent potential exploitation while assessing the situation.
  2. 2. Identify all systems running Microsoft Word 2002 SP3 or Office 2004 for Mac.
  3. 3. Obtain and install the official Microsoft security update MS10-056, which addresses this vulnerability in Word 2002 SP3.
  4. 4. For Office 2004 for Mac, check for and apply the corresponding Microsoft security update for Mac from Microsoft's support archives.
  5. 5. If official patches are unavailable due to end-of-support, migrate to a currently supported Microsoft Office version (such as Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016) which receives regular security updates.
  6. 6. After patching or upgrading, scan all Word documents from external sources with up-to-date antivirus software before opening.
  7. 7. Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized code or scripts.
  8. 8. Educate users about the risks of opening Word documents from untrusted sources and enforce email gateway filtering for potentially malicious attachments.
Caveat Office 2004 for Mac and Word 2002 are end-of-support products; upgrading to modern Office requires new license purchase and may require file format migration; macro compatibility may differ in newer versions

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

Fix this in Office 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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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-2010-3216 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