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Word Automation ServicesApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2012-2528

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-10-09
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 Word 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 SP1; Word Viewer; Office Compatibility Pack SP2 and SP3; Word Automation Services on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010; and Office Web Apps 2010 SP1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted RTF document, aka "RTF File listid 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

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in multiple Microsoft Office products (Word 2003-2010, Word Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack, SharePoint Server 2010 Word Automation Services, and Office Web Apps 2010). The flaw is triggered when parsing a specially crafted RTF document, allowing an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution by freeing memory that is still referenced by the application.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates (MS12-079) to all affected Office installations. Until patches are applied, disable RTF file handling in Microsoft Word or block RTF attachments at the email gateway to reduce attack surface.

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
Word Automation ServicesApplication
Affected:all versions
Office Compatibility PackApplication
Affected:all versions
Office Web AppsApplication
Affected:= 2010
WordApplication
Affected:= 2003= 2007= 2010
Word ViewerApplication
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 Word version
    Open Word, go to File > Help or Account, and note the version (2003, 2007, or 2010). Alternatively, check Add/Remove Programs or the installed Office suite version.
    Affected if The installed version is Word 2003, 2007, or 2010 (any version within these releases)
  2. Check for Word Viewer installation
    Look for Microsoft Word Viewer in the list of installed programs via Control Panel > Programs and Features, or search for WINWORDV.exe in Program Files.
    Affected if Word Viewer is installed (any version)
  3. Verify Office Compatibility Pack presence
    Check installed Office programs for Microsoft Office Word Compatibility Pack, or verify if .docx files open in compatibility mode indicating the compatibility pack is installed.
    Affected if Office Compatibility Pack is installed (any version)
  4. Confirm SharePoint Server 2010 Word Automation Services
    Check if the environment runs Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and if the Word Automation Services feature is enabled in SharePoint Central Administration.
    Affected if SharePoint Server 2010 with Word Automation Services is configured
  5. Detect Office Web Apps 2010
    Verify if Microsoft Office Web Apps 2010 is installed, typically on a separate server or as part of a SharePoint 2010 farm. Check installed programs or SharePoint farm features.
    Affected if Office Web Apps 2010 is deployed
  6. Confirm RTF handling is active
    RTF file handling is enabled by default in Word. If not already disabled, RTF documents can be opened and parsed by the affected Word installation.
    Affected if RTF file handling is enabled (default state) and the above affected products are present

The environment is affected if any of the following are installed: Word 2003/2007/2010, Word Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack, SharePoint Server 2010 Word Automation Services, or Office Web Apps 2010, with RTF parsing enabled (the default configuration).

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 (MS12-079) to all affected Office installations. Until patches are applied, disable RTF file handling in Microsoft Word or block RTF attachments at the email gateway to reduce attack surface.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft Office Service Pack updates and security updates as referenced in MS12-079; for end-of-life products, upgrade to a supported Office version (Office 365 or current on-premises version)

  1. Navigate to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS12-079 (https://technet.microsoft.com/library/security/ms12-079)
  2. Identify your specific product and version from the affected software list
  3. Download the appropriate security update for your installed version of Microsoft Word, Office Compatibility Pack, Word Viewer, or Office Web Apps
  4. Apply the security update by running the downloaded installer
  5. Restart the affected application or server after installation
  6. Verify the update was installed successfully by checking installed updates via Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates
  7. For Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server 2010, apply the update to the SharePoint server and restart IIS via 'iisreset' command
Caveat Applying security updates to older Office versions may require maintaining older runtime dependencies; ensure compatibility testing is performed before deploying in production environments

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

Fix this in Word Automation Services Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2012-2528 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