CVE-2011-3396
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 · uneditedUntrusted search path vulnerability in Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 SP2 and 2010 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory, aka "PowerPoint Insecure Library Loading 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 confidenceUntrusted search path vulnerability in Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 SP2 and 2010 allows local users to gain privileges via a malicious DLL placed in the current working directory. PowerPoint loads DLLs without validating the path, enabling DLL hijacking and privilege escalation.
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= 2007= 2010CVSS 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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Check installed PowerPoint versionOpen PowerPoint, go to File > Help, and note the version and build number under 'About Microsoft PowerPoint'. Alternatively, run 'winword.exe /?' or check the executable properties at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX\POWERPNT.EXEAffected if Version is 2007 (build 12.x) or 2010 (build 14.x)
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Identify current working directory when launching PowerPointOpen PowerPoint and note the default save location shown in the Save As dialog. Check the current working directory by opening Command Prompt and typing 'cd' with PowerPoint closed, or use Process Explorer to view the working directory of a running PowerPoint instanceAffected if Working directory is a shared network folder or a folder writable by untrusted users
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Inspect for suspicious DLLs in PowerPoint startup directoriesCheck the PowerPoint program directory (typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX\) and the current working directory from step 2 for DLL files that PowerPoint might load. Common vulnerable DLLs include but are not limited to those in the same folder as the executableAffected if Unexpected or unsigned DLL files exist in these locations
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Verify folder permissions on common working directoriesRight-click on the folders identified in step 2 (Documents, Desktop, Downloads, or network shares), select Properties > Security, and review which users have Write or Modify permissionsAffected if Folders grant Write permissions to Users, Guests, or untrusted accounts
A user is affected if they run PowerPoint 2007 or 2010 from a directory where untrusted users can place malicious DLLs, or if unexpected DLLs exist in PowerPoint's startup path.
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.
From vendor dataApply Microsoft security update MS11-074 (or subsequent patches) to PowerPoint. Avoid opening PowerPoint files from untrusted or shared network locations, and ensure the current working directory is not writable by untrusted users.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-3396 — 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-2011-3396 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
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