CVE-2011-0103
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 and 2003 SP3, Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac, and Open XML File Format Converter for Mac allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via crafted record information in an Excel file, aka "Excel 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 · high confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability exists in Microsoft Excel when parsing specially crafted Excel files containing malformed record information. Attackers can exploit this by tricking users into opening malicious .xls files, leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service through heap corruption.
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= 2002= 2003= 2004= 2008all 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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Identify installed Microsoft Excel versionLocate excel.exe on the system (typically in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10 for Excel 2002, Office11 for Excel 2003, or C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 2004 or 2008 for Mac). Right-click the executable, select Properties, and view the Version tab to determine the exact version number.Affected if The installed version is Excel 2002 or Excel 2003.
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Identify installed Microsoft Office versionCheck for Office installation by looking for common Office executables (winword.exe, excel.exe, powerpnt.exe) or by checking the Windows Registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\{version}\Common\InstallRoot for Office version keys.Affected if The installed version is Microsoft Office 2004 or Microsoft Office 2008.
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Check for Microsoft Open Xml File Format ConverterSearch for 'Microsoft Open Xml File Format Converter' in the list of installed programs (Control Panel > Programs and Features) or check common installation paths for the converter application.Affected if Microsoft Open Xml File Format Converter of any version is installed.
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Verify if vulnerable component is actively usedCheck whether the Excel application or Office suite has been launched or used on the system, as the vulnerability requires a user to open a specially crafted .xls file.Affected if Users have access to Excel and may open untrusted .xls attachments or files.
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Confirm security update installationCheck for installed Windows updates by viewing the update history in Windows Update or by checking the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for the specific security patch associated with CVE-2011-0103.Affected if The specific security update for CVE-2011-0103 has NOT been installed on the system.
A system is affected if it has Microsoft Excel 2002, Excel 2003, Microsoft Office 2004, Microsoft Office 2008, or the Microsoft Open Xml File Format Converter installed without the corresponding security update 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 · scopedDeploy the Microsoft security updates for affected Excel versions, implement email/attachment filtering to block suspicious Excel files, and train users to avoid opening untrusted attachments.
Microsoft Office 2010 or later (includes fix); Office 2004 for Mac 11.6.3+; Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.0+; Open XML File Format Converter 1.0.2+
- Install Microsoft Security Update 2489279 (MS11-012) for Microsoft Excel 2002 SP3 and Excel 2003 SP3
- For Office 2004 for Mac, apply Office 2004 for Mac 11.6.3 update or later
- For Office 2008 for Mac, apply Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.0 update or later
- For Open XML File Format Converter for Mac, upgrade to version 1.0.2 or later
- Alternatively, upgrade to Microsoft Office 2010 which includes the security fix
- After patching, verify the update was applied via Windows Update or the Microsoft Update Catalog
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-0103 — 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-2011-0103 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