dbcve.org
OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2011-3413

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
Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 SP2; Office 2008 for Mac; Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP2; and PowerPoint Viewer 2007 SP2 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via an invalid OfficeArt record in a PowerPoint document, aka "OfficeArt Shape 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 · moderate confidence

This is a memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft PowerPoint's parsing of OfficeArt (graphics) records. Attackers can exploit this by crafting malicious PowerPoint files containing invalid OfficeArt records, leading to remote code execution or denial of service.

MitigationApply the Microsoft security update (MS11-094) to all affected PowerPoint installations, and exercise caution when opening PowerPoint files from untrusted sources until patches are applied.

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:= 2008
Office Compatibility PackApplication
Affected:= 2007
PowerpointApplication
Affected:= 2007
Powerpoint ViewerApplication
Affected:= 2007

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. Verify PowerPoint installation
    Check if Microsoft PowerPoint is installed on the system by looking for PowerPoint.exe in typical installation paths (e.g., C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\PowerPoint.exe) or via Windows Add/Remove Programs.
    Affected if PowerPoint 2007 or PowerPoint 2008 is installed.
  2. Identify the exact PowerPoint version
    Right-click PowerPoint.exe, select Properties, and check the Version tab, or run 'PowerPnt.exe /?' from the command line to display version information.
    Affected if The version corresponds to Office PowerPoint 2007 or Office PowerPoint 2008 (exact build numbers should be compared against Microsoft's affected version ranges).
  3. Check Office Compatibility Pack version
    Verify if Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack is installed by checking the installed programs list or locating the compatibility pack executable (cvtword.exe) in the Office installation directory.
    Affected if The Office Compatibility Pack version is 2007.
  4. Check PowerPoint Viewer version
    Look for PPTVIEW.exe in the PowerPoint Viewer installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\) and check its version properties.
    Affected if PowerPoint Viewer version corresponds to the 2007 release.
  5. Assess OfficeArt file exposure
    Determine if the system regularly processes PowerPoint files by checking for recent .pptx/.ppt files in user directories or the system's default download/temp locations.
    Affected if Users on this system open PowerPoint files containing OfficeArt graphics records, especially from untrusted sources.

A system is affected if any installed version of PowerPoint 2007, PowerPoint 2008, PowerPoint Viewer 2007, or Office Compatibility Pack 2007 is present and users can open PowerPoint files with OfficeArt content.

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 the Microsoft security update (MS11-094) to all affected PowerPoint installations, and exercise caution when opening PowerPoint files from untrusted sources until patches are applied.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 3 / Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 4 / Office 2010 or later (recommended)

  1. Identify the specific affected Microsoft Office product installed (Office 2008 for Mac, Office Compatibility Pack 2007, PowerPoint 2007, or PowerPoint Viewer 2007)
  2. For Windows systems: Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 3 or migrate to a newer supported Office version (Office 2010 or later)
  3. For Mac systems: Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 4 or migrate to a newer supported Office version (Office 2011 or later)
  4. For PowerPoint Viewer: Upgrade to PowerPoint Viewer 2007 Service Pack 3 or remove the viewer and use a supported alternative
  5. After upgrading, verify the Office installation has the latest security updates through Windows Update or Microsoft Update
  6. Test that affected PowerPoint files open correctly in the upgraded version
Caveat Very old Office file formats or macros may behave differently in newer versions; extensive testing of legacy documents recommended before production deployment

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

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-3413 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2011-3413 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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