dbcve.org
OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2010-3337

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-11-10
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
Untrusted search path vulnerability in Microsoft Office 2007 SP2 and 2010 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory, aka "Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability." NOTE: this might overlap CVE-2010-3141 and CVE-2010-3142.

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

A DLL hijacking (insecure library loading) vulnerability in Microsoft Office 2007 SP2 and 2010 allows local privilege escalation. When Office opens a file from a directory containing a malicious DLL, it loads that DLL from the current working directory instead of secure system paths, executing arbitrary code with the user's privileges.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates for this vulnerability, configure secure DLL search order via registry settings to prevent loading from current directory, and ensure users do not open Office documents from untrusted or shared network locations.

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:= 2007= 2010

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. Identify installed Microsoft Office version
    Open any Office application (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), go to File > Help or File > Account, and note the version number displayed (e.g., 12.0 for Office 2007, 14.0 for Office 2010)
    Affected if Version is 12.0 (Office 2007) or 14.0 (Office 2010)
  2. Confirm Office service pack level
    In the same Help or Account section, check if Service Pack 2 or later is installed for Office 2007; for Office 2010, check if Service Pack is installed
    Affected if Office 2007 SP2 or earlier, or Office 2010 without latest service pack (vulnerability present in these versions regardless of SP)
  3. Verify DLL search order behavior
    This is an inherent behavior in affected versions - no registry check needed. The vulnerability exists because affected Office versions search the current working directory before system paths when loading certain DLLs
    Affected if Affected Office version is installed and used (vulnerability is built into the DLL loading behavior)
  4. Assess user behavior - document opening location
    Determine whether users commonly open Office documents from network shares, USB drives, download folders, or other locations where a malicious DLL could be placed alongside documents
    Affected if Users open Office documents from directories that could contain attacker-controlled files (network shares, shared drives, untrusted folders)

User is affected if they have Microsoft Office 2007 (any SP2 or earlier) or Office 2010 installed and their workflow involves opening documents from directories where an attacker could place a malicious DLL alongside the document file.

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 updates for this vulnerability, configure secure DLL search order via registry settings to prevent loading from current directory, and ensure users do not open Office documents from untrusted or shared network locations.

Recommended fix High confidence
  1. Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-083, which addresses the insecure library loading vulnerability in Microsoft Office 2007 SP2 and 2010
  2. For Office 2007 SP2, install the relevant security update (KB2289158) from Microsoft Update or Windows Update
  3. For Office 2010, install the relevant security update (KB2289161) from Microsoft Update or Windows Settings
  4. Alternatively, ensure all Windows and Office updates are installed via Windows Update
  5. Verify the patch installation by checking the installed updates in Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates
  6. Consider avoiding opening Office documents from untrusted locations or the current working directory to mitigate DLL hijacking risks

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

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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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-2010-3337 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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