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OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2011-1983

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2011-12-14
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
Use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Office 2007 SP2 and SP3, Office 2010 Gold and SP1, and Office for Mac 2011 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Word document, aka "Word Use After Free 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

Use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Word allows remote code execution when processing a crafted Word document. The vulnerability occurs when memory is freed but still referenced, enabling an attacker to overwrite that memory with malicious code.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update MS11-089 to affected Office installations, and enforce policies preventing opening of untrusted or unexpected Word documents.

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= 2011

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 if Microsoft Word is installed
    Check for winword.exe process or verify Office installation via Programs and Features or the Microsoft Office folder in Program Files
    Affected if Microsoft Word is not present on the system, this CVE does not apply
  2. Determine the installed Microsoft Office/Word version
    Open Word, go to File > Help > About Microsoft Word, or check the installed version via Programs and Features. Compare the version number (e.g., 14.0.x for Office 2010, 12.0.x for Office 2007) against the affected versions 2007, 2010, and 2011
    Affected if The installed version matches 2007, 2010, or 2011 of Microsoft Office/Word
  3. Verify if Word documents are processed
    Check if the system is configured to open .doc or .docx files with Microsoft Word, or if users routinely open Word documents from email, network shares, or downloads
    Affected if Users open Word documents on the affected version, creating the attack surface for this vulnerability

The system is affected if Microsoft Word version 2007, 2010, or 2011 is installed and users open Word documents, enabling the use-after-free flaw to be triggered by specially crafted 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 update MS11-089 to affected Office installations, and enforce policies preventing opening of untrusted or unexpected Word documents.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 3, Office 2010 Service Pack 1, or Office for Mac 2011 latest update (October 2011 security updates)

  1. Verify the current Office version by opening Word and navigating to File > Help or About Microsoft Office Word
  2. For Office 2007: Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-081 (October 2011) or ensure Service Pack 3 is installed
  3. For Office 2010: Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-081 (October 2011) or ensure Service Pack 1 is installed
  4. For Office for Mac 2011: Apply the October 2011 update from Microsoft or ensure the latest available update is installed
  5. Restart Word after applying updates
  6. Verify the patch was successfully installed via Windows Update or the Office update mechanism
Caveat This is a security patch; minimal risk of breaking changes, but test critical documents after applying

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

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2011-1983 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
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