CVE-2011-0656
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 PowerPoint 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2, and 2010; Office 2004, 2008, and 2011 for Mac; Open XML File Format Converter for Mac; Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP2; PowerPoint Viewer; PowerPoint Viewer 2007 SP2; and PowerPoint Web App do not properly validate PersistDirectoryEntry records in PowerPoint documents, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a Slide with a malformed record, which triggers an exception and later use of an unspecified method, aka "Persist Directory RCE 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 confidenceThis is a memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft PowerPoint and Office products where improper validation of PersistDirectoryEntry records in malformed PowerPoint documents allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code. The attack involves crafting a malicious Slide with a malformed record that triggers an exception, leading to exploitation through an unspecified method.
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= 2008= 2011= 2007all versionsall versions= 2002= 2003= 2007= 2010= 2007all 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 PowerPoint version on WindowsOpen PowerPoint, go to File > Help, or use command 'wmic product where "name like 'Microsoft PowerPoint%'" get name,version'. For Office applications, check version via File > Account > About PowerPoint.Affected if Version matches 2002, 2003, 2007, or 2010 on Windows
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Identify installed Microsoft Office version on WindowsRun 'wmic product where "name like 'Microsoft Office%'" get name,version' or check registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\ProductReleaseIDs for Office 365/2016+. Open any Office app, go to File > Account > About to see version.Affected if Version matches 2004, 2008 (Mac), or 2011 (Mac) - note these are Mac versions which would show differently on Mac systems
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Check for PowerPoint Viewer installationRun 'wmic product where "name like '%PowerPoint Viewer%'" get name,version' or check Add/Remove Programs for 'Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer'.Affected if PowerPoint Viewer is installed (any version)
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Check if PowerPoint Web App is enabledFor SharePoint 2010: Central Administration > Application Management > Manage service applications > select PowerPoint Service Application > verify status. For Office Web Apps: check IIS Manager for 'PowerPoint' application or run Get-PowerPointWebApp in SharePoint Management Shell.Affected if PowerPoint Web App service is running and accessible
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Check for Office Compatibility Pack installationRun 'wmic product where "name like '%Compatibility Pack%'" get name,version' or check Add/Remove Programs for 'Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats'.Affected if Office Compatibility Pack for 2007 is installed
A system is affected if any version of PowerPoint 2002, 2003, 2007, or 2010 is installed, or if Office versions 2004/2008/2011 are present, or if PowerPoint Viewer (any version), PowerPoint Web App, Office Compatibility Pack 2007, or Open Xml File Format Converter are installed and enabled.
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 Microsoft security updates (MS11-021, MS11-022, or MS11-023 depending on the affected product) to all vulnerable PowerPoint and Office installations. Until patches are applied, avoid opening untrusted PowerPoint files and disable the PowerPoint Web App if feasible.
Microsoft Office 2016 or later (Office 365 recommended). For legacy systems: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-025.
- Identify all systems with affected PowerPoint versions (2002, 2003, 2007, 2010) or affected Office suites (2004, 2008, 2011 for Mac)
- Backup all critical PowerPoint documents before making changes
- Upgrade to a currently supported Microsoft Office version (Office 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016) which includes the security fix
- Alternatively, for legacy systems, apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-025 (the original patch for this CVE) if still available through Microsoft Update
- Ensure Microsoft Update is enabled and all security patches are applied
- Implement additional mitigation: configure email gateways to block or sanitize suspicious PowerPoint attachments
- Educate users about the risk of opening untrusted PowerPoint files
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-2011-0656 — 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-2011-0656 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