CVE-2013-3848
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 Word Automation Services in SharePoint Server 2010 SP1, Word Web App 2010 SP1 in Office Web Apps 2010, Word 2003 SP3, Word 2007 SP3, Word 2010 SP1, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, and Word Viewer allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted Office document, aka "Word Memory Corruption Vulnerability," a different vulnerability than CVE-2013-3847, CVE-2013-3849, and CVE-2013-3858.
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 confidenceThis is a memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Word and related products (Word Automation Services in SharePoint Server 2010, Word Web App 2010, Word 2003/2007/2010, Office Compatibility Pack, and Word Viewer). Attackers can achieve remote code execution or cause denial of service by tricking users into opening specially crafted malicious Office 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= 2010all versions= 2003= 2007= 2010all versions= 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 Microsoft Word versionOpen Command Prompt and run: wmic product where "name like 'Microsoft Office Word%'" get version,name. Alternatively, navigate to the Word installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX) and right-click on WINWORD.EXE to view Properties > Details for the version.Affected if The installed version corresponds to Word 2003, 2007, or 2010 (any version within these product lines).
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Check Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack installationOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, look for 'Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint' in the list, or run: wmic product where "name like 'Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack%'" get version,name.Affected if The Compatibility Pack is installed (all versions are affected).
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Check Microsoft Word Viewer installationOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, look for 'Microsoft Word Viewer' in the installed programs list, or check for the file WORDVIEW.EXE in the Microsoft Office folder (typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\).Affected if Word Viewer is installed (all versions are affected).
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Check SharePoint Server 2010 with Word Automation ServicesOpen SharePoint 2010 Central Administration, go to Manage services on server, and verify if Word Automation Services is listed and configured. Alternatively, check the server for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 installation via Programs and Features.Affected if SharePoint Server 2010 with Word Automation Services is installed and running.
You are affected if any of the following are present: Word 2003, 2007, or 2010 installed; Office Compatibility Pack installed; Word Viewer installed; SharePoint Server 2010 with Word Automation Services running.
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-2013-3848 immediately. Until patched, instruct users not to open untrusted or unexpected Office documents, and consider blocking or filtering risky file attachments at the email gateway.
- Apply Microsoft security update MS13-086, which addresses CVE-2013-3848. This update was released as part of the October 2013 security bulletin cycle.
- For Office products (Word 2003, Word 2007, Word 2010, Office Compatibility Pack), install the appropriate update for your specific version and service pack level.
- For SharePoint Server 2010 and Office Web Apps 2010, apply the server-side updates to address the Word Automation Services and Word Web App vulnerabilities.
- After applying updates, restart affected services and systems as required.
- Verify the update was successfully installed by checking the installed updates via Windows Update or the Add/Remove Programs control panel.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-3848 — 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-2013-3848 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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- 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