CVE-2013-3891
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 2003 SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Office document, aka "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 confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2003 SP3 that can be exploited through maliciously crafted Office documents. When a user opens a specially crafted Word file, it triggers memory corruption allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the targeted user.
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= 2003CVSS 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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Verify Word 2003 is installedOpen Word 2003, click Help > About Microsoft Office Word. Alternatively, check Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11 for WINWORD.EXE, or open Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs and look for Microsoft Office Word 2003.Affected if Word 2003 is present on the system without the MS13-086 patch applied.
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Confirm the exact Word 2003 version numberOpen Word 2003, go to Help > About Microsoft Office Word. Note the version displayed (for example, 11.0.XXXXX). Compare this against the build numbers addressed in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS13-086.Affected if The build number is lower than the patched version released in MS13-086.
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Check if the vulnerability-triggering file type is handled by WordRight-click a .doc file, select Properties, and verify it opens with Microsoft Office Word. Alternatively, open Word and go to Tools > Options > File Locations to confirm document paths are set.Affected if The system is configured to open .doc files directly in Word 2003 without sandboxing or warning dialogs.
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Inspect Protected View settingsOpen Word 2003, go to Tools > Options > Security. Look for the Protected View section and check whether it is enabled for files from the internet and email attachments.Affected if Protected View is disabled, allowing potentially malicious Word documents to execute normally without sandboxing.
The environment is affected if Microsoft Word 2003 is installed and the MS13-086 security update has not been applied, leaving the memory corruption vulnerability exploitable through opened malicious .doc files.
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 Bulletin MS13-086 patch to address the vulnerability, or upgrade to a supported version of Microsoft Office. Until patched, disable opening of untrusted Office documents and enable Protected View in Office settings.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-3891 — 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-2013-3891 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