dbcve.org
ExcelApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2011-1276

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2011-06-16
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
Buffer overflow in Microsoft Excel 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, and 2007 SP2; Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac; Open XML File Format Converter for Mac; Excel Viewer SP2; and Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted Excel spreadsheet, related to improper validation of record information, aka "Excel Buffer Overrun 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 confidence

Buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft Excel and related Office products caused by improper validation of record information in crafted Excel spreadsheets. Allows remote attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution or cause memory corruption (denial of service). Affects Excel 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2, Office 2004/2008 for Mac, Open XML File Format Converter for Mac, Excel Viewer SP2, and Office Compatibility Pack.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates (MS11-021, MS11-022, MS11-023) to all affected Microsoft Office products. Until patches are applied, restrict opening of untrusted Excel files and disable Excel's file preview pane in Outlook.

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
ExcelApplication
Affected:= 2002= 2003= 2007
Excel ViewerApplication
Affected:all versions
OfficeApplication
Affected:= 2004= 2008
Office Compatibility PackApplication
Affected:= 2007
Open Xml File Format ConverterApplication
Affected:all versions

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 Excel version
    Open Excel, go to Help > About Microsoft Excel, or check Programs and Features (Add/Remove Programs) for Microsoft Excel listing with version and service pack
    Affected if Version is Excel 2002, Excel 2003 SP3, or Excel 2007 SP2 (or earlier service packs)
  2. Check for Microsoft Office 2004/2008 for Mac
    Open any Office application (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), go to Application Name > About Application Name. Check version number in the dialog
    Affected if Office for Mac version 2004 or 2008 is installed (any service pack)
  3. Verify Microsoft Excel Viewer installation
    Check Programs and Features for Microsoft Excel Viewer, or look for ExcelView.exe in typical installation paths (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Excel Viewer\)
    Affected if Any version of Excel Viewer is installed
  4. Check Office Compatibility Pack version
    Check Programs and Features for Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word/Excel/PowerPoint file formats, right-click to see version
    Affected if Office Compatibility Pack version is 2007 (any service pack)
  5. Verify Open XML File Format Converter for Mac
    Check Applications folder for Open XML File Format Converter, Get Info to view version, or check /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/ folder
    Affected if Open XML File Format Converter for Mac is installed (any version)

If any of the above products match the specified versions (Excel 2002/2003/2007, Office 2004/2008 for Mac, any Excel Viewer, Compatibility Pack 2007, or Open XML Converter for Mac), the environment is potentially affected when opening untrusted Excel files.

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 (MS11-021, MS11-022, MS11-023) to all affected Microsoft Office products. Until patches are applied, restrict opening of untrusted Excel files and disable Excel's file preview pane in Outlook.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-021 patches (KB2502784, KB2502785, KB2502786, KB2502787, KB2502788 for Windows; KB2525412 for Mac)

  1. Check the Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-021 (released April 12, 2011) for this vulnerability
  2. Apply the appropriate security update for your specific product version: For Excel 2002 SP3 use KB2502784, for Excel 2003 SP3 use KB2502785, for Excel 2007 SP2 use KB2502786
  3. For Excel Viewer SP2 apply KB2502787
  4. For Office Compatibility Pack SP2 apply KB2502788
  5. For Office 2004 for Mac apply KB2525412
  6. For Office 2008 for Mac apply KB2525412
  7. For Open XML File Format Converter for Mac apply KB2525412
  8. Restart the affected application after applying the update
Caveat Patches address security vulnerabilities without functional changes; minimal risk of compatibility issues with existing spreadsheets

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

Fix this in Excel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,230
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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-2011-1276 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • 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