CVE-2013-3156
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 · uneditedMicrosoft Access 2007 SP3, 2010 SP1 and SP2, and 2013 in Microsoft Office allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted Access file, aka "Access File Format Memory Corruption 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 confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Access file format parsing. Attackers can craft malicious .mdb or .accdb files that, when opened by vulnerable Access versions (2007 SP3, 2010 SP1/SP2, 2013), cause memory corruption leading to arbitrary code execution or DoS.
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= 2010= 2013CVSS 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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Identify installed Microsoft Access versionOpen Access, go to File > Account > About Access; or check the registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Access.Application\CurVerAffected if The installed version is Access 2007, 2010, or 2013 (without subsequent service packs beyond those listed)
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Check Access 2007 Service Pack levelCheck the installed version and compare to affected releases 2007 SP3, 2010 SP1/SP2, and 2013 RTMAffected if The installed version matches one of these specific vulnerable versions without subsequent security patches
Your environment is affected if Microsoft Access 2007 SP3, Access 2010 SP1/SP2, or Access 2013 (RTM) is installed and unpatched.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply Microsoft security patches for CVE-2013-3156. Until patched, disable macro execution and avoid opening untrusted Access files; enable Protected View in Office.
Microsoft 365 (current supported version) or Office 2016/2019 with active support
- 1. Verify the current Microsoft Office version by opening Access, clicking File, and checking the Account information
- 2. For Access 2007 SP3: Obtain and install the MS13-042 security update (KB2810046) from Microsoft Update, or upgrade to a supported Office version
- 3. For Access 2010 SP1/SP2: Obtain and install the MS13-042 security update (KB2810047) from Microsoft Update, or upgrade to a supported Office version
- 4. For Access 2013: Obtain and install the MS13-042 security update (KB2810012) from Microsoft Update, or upgrade to a supported Office version
- 5. After patching, restart Access and verify the vulnerability no longer triggers with the original crafted file
- 6. Alternatively, migrate to Microsoft 365 which receives continuous security updates
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-3156 — 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-2013-3156 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data