CVE-2010-3221
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 · uneditedMicrosoft Word 2002 SP3 and 2003 SP3, Office 2004 for Mac, and Word Viewer do not properly handle a malformed record during parsing of a Word document, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted 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 · high confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Word's document parsing logic allows remote code execution via a specially crafted malformed Word document. The vulnerability occurs when Word improperly handles a malformed record during parsing, leading to heap corruption that can be leveraged for arbitrary code execution.
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= 2002= 2003all 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 the Microsoft Word executableSearch for WINWORD.EXE on the system using File Explorer or command: dir /s C:\WINWORD.EXE or dir /s "C:\Program Files (x86)\WINWORD.EXE" on 64-bit systems. Note the full path where found.Affected if WINWORD.EXE exists and corresponds to an unpatched vulnerable version (2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, or 2004 for Mac)
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Check the installed Word version numberRight-click the found WINWORD.EXE file, select Properties, and view the Details tab to see the File Version. Alternatively, open Word and go to Help > About Microsoft Word to display the exact version and service pack level.Affected if The version displays as Microsoft Word 2002 (10.x) SP3, Word 2003 (11.x) SP3, or Word 2004 for Mac (12.x) without subsequent security patches
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Check for Word Viewer installationLook for WordViewer.exe in Program Files directories, or open Control Panel > Programs and Features and look for an entry named 'Microsoft Word Viewer' or 'Microsoft Office Word Viewer'.Affected if Microsoft Word Viewer of any version is installed and has not been updated
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Verify the security patch is not installedOpen Windows Update or check Add/Remove Programs for update KB2251389 (MS10-056). On the command line, run: wmic qfe list | findstr /i "KB2251389"Affected if The security update KB2251389 is NOT listed among installed updates
A system is affected if it runs Microsoft Word 2002 SP3, Word 2003 SP3, Word 2004 for Mac, or any version of Word Viewer AND does not have security update KB2251389 installed.
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 (likely MS10-056) to all affected Word versions (2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, 2004 for Mac, Word Viewer). Until patched, disable macros, disable Protected View for emails, and avoid opening Word documents from untrusted sources.
Move to Office 2010 or later (Office 365 recommended for continued security updates)
- Upgrade from Office 2004, Word 2002, Word 2003, or Word Viewer to a currently supported Microsoft Office version (Office 2010 or later, which includes the security fix for this vulnerability)
- Ensure the upgraded Office installation has the latest security updates installed via Windows Update
- For organizations requiring legacy document support, consider using Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for opening older Word documents in a newer, patched version
- Alternatively, use Microsoft Office Online or a supported version of Office 365 which automatically receives security updates
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,304.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-3221 — 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-2010-3221 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