CVE-2010-3218
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 · uneditedHeap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Word 2002 SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via malformed records in a Word document, aka "Word Heap 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 confidenceHeap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2002 SP3 that allows remote code execution through malformed records in specially crafted Word documents. When Word parses these malicious records, it writes data beyond the allocated heap buffer, enabling attackers to inject and execute arbitrary code with the user's privileges.
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= 2002CVSS 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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Check installed Microsoft Word versionOpen Microsoft Word 2002, click Help menu, select About Microsoft Word. Note the version number displayed (e.g., 'Word 2002 (10.0.XXX.YY)'). Alternatively, right-click winword.exe in the Office10 folder (typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\) and view Properties > Version tab.Affected if The version displayed is Word 2002 with any build number - this matches the affected product exactly (Microsoft Word = 2002).
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Verify Office 10 component version via registryOpen Registry Editor (regedit), navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\InstallRoot. Check the value of the 'Version' string entry.Affected if If a version string exists and corresponds to Office 2002 (version 10.x), the installation is potentially affected by this CVE.
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Confirm Word application is the vulnerable componentThe vulnerability exists in Word's document parsing engine for malformed records. Any installation of Microsoft Word 2002 that can open .doc files contains the vulnerable code.Affected if If Microsoft Word 2002 is installed and functional, the vulnerability is present in the document parsing component regardless of configuration settings.
If the installed Microsoft Word version is exactly 2002 (Office 10.x), the environment is affected by this CVE since the heap-based buffer overflow exists in Word's document parsing of malformed records.
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.
From vendor dataApply Microsoft security update MS10-056 to patch the vulnerability, or upgrade to a newer version of Microsoft Office. Implement the Microsoft Office File Validation add-in as a temporary workaround and instruct users to avoid opening Word documents from untrusted sources.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2010-3218 — 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-2010-3218 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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- 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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