CVE-2010-3220
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 · uneditedUnspecified vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2002 SP3 and Office 2004 for Mac allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Word document that triggers memory corruption, aka "Word Parsing 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 · moderate confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in Word 2002 SP3 and Office 2004 for Mac allows remote code execution through maliciously crafted Word documents. The vulnerability occurs during parsing of specially crafted files, leading to arbitrary code execution 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= 2004= 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 if Word 2002 is installed on WindowsOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, look for 'Microsoft Word 2002' or 'Microsoft Office XP' in the installed programs list. Alternatively, run 'winword.exe /?' from command line and check the version in the dialog or run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\InstallRoot"' to check for Office 10.0 (Office XP/Word 2002) installation.Affected if Microsoft Word 2002 is installed on the system, regardless of service pack level, as the vulnerability exists in Word 2002 SP3 (the affected version listed).
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Check if Office 2004 for Mac is installedOn macOS, open Finder > Applications folder and look for 'Microsoft Office 2004' folder, or check System Preferences > Software Update for Microsoft Office receipt logs. Alternatively, run 'ls /Applications/Microsoft Office 2004' in Terminal.Affected if Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac is installed, as this version is explicitly listed as affected.
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Verify the exact Word build version on WindowsLaunch WinWord.exe, click Help > About Microsoft Word. Note the build number in the dialog. For command-line verification, use: 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Common\InstallRoot"' to confirm Office XP/Word 2002 presence.Affected if The installed version is Word 2002 (Office 10.0) build 10.0.xxxx, which corresponds to SP3.
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Check if the vulnerability has been patched via Windows UpdateOpen Windows Update or check for updates via Control Panel > Windows Update. Review the installed updates history for Microsoft security updates from October 2010 or later that address this CVE.Affected if No security updates from October 2010 or later specific to this vulnerability have been installed, leaving the unpatched Word 2002 or Office 2004 for Mac vulnerable.
A user is affected if they have Microsoft Word 2002 (any service pack, specifically SP3 mentioned) on Windows or Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac installed and the October 2010 security update has not been applied.
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 for affected Word versions, or upgrade to supported Office versions as these legacy products are beyond extended support.
Microsoft Word 2010 or later / Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 or later (or Microsoft 365)
- Identify all systems running Microsoft Word 2002 SP3 or Office 2004 for Mac that are vulnerable to CVE-2010-3220.
- Since this is a parsing vulnerability in Word that allows remote code execution via crafted documents, the primary mitigation is to upgrade to a supported Microsoft Office version.
- Upgrade Microsoft Word 2002 SP3 to a supported version such as Microsoft Word 2010 or later, which includes security updates that address this vulnerability.
- Upgrade Office 2004 for Mac to a supported version such as Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 or later (or Microsoft 365 for Mac).
- After upgrading, ensure Microsoft Update is enabled to receive future security patches.
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-2010-3220 — 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-2010-3220 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data