CVE-2010-3234
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 Excel 2002 SP3 does not properly validate formula information, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Excel document, aka "Formula Substream Memory Corruption 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 confidenceMicrosoft Excel 2002 SP3 contains a memory corruption vulnerability in its formula substream parsing logic. The application fails to properly validate formula information within crafted Excel documents, allowing an attacker to overwrite memory and execute arbitrary code via a specially constructed file.
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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Confirm Microsoft Excel 2002 is installedCheck the installed programs list in Windows Control Panel or query the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Excel\InstallRoot to verify Excel 2002 is presentAffected if Excel 2002 is found on the system
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Determine the exact Excel version numberRight-click the Excel.exe file (typically in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\) and select Properties, then check the Version tab, or run 'excel.exe /?' from the command line to display version informationAffected if The version displays as 10.x indicating Excel 2002
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Verify the Service Pack levelOpen Excel, go to Help > About Microsoft Excel, or check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Excel\UVEXReserved to see the SP version displayed in the product informationAffected if Service Pack 3 is not installed or the SP level cannot be confirmed as SP3
A system is affected if Microsoft Excel 2002 is installed and the version/service pack level matches the vulnerable release (Excel 2002 SP3).
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 update KB2251399 or subsequent cumulative security updates for Microsoft Office that address this vulnerability. Until patched, warn users against opening untrusted Excel attachments and consider disabling Excel's macro/active content execution in high-security environments.
Microsoft Office 2007 or later / Microsoft 365
- Identify all systems running Microsoft Excel 2002 SP3 that handle untrusted Excel documents
- Inventory all Excel documents from untrusted sources on affected systems
- Migrate to a supported version of Microsoft Office (Office 2007 or later, or Microsoft 365)
- Alternatively, use alternative spreadsheet applications that support Excel file formats (such as LibreOffice or Google Docs) to open untrusted documents
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unexpected processes
- Educate users about the risks of opening Excel attachments from untrusted sources
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-2010-3234 — 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-2010-3234 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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