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Office Compatibility PackApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2014-0260

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-01-15
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 Word 2003 SP3, 2007 SP3, 2010 SP1 and SP2, 2013, and 2013 RT; Office Compatibility Pack SP3; Word Viewer; SharePoint Server 2010 SP1 and SP2 and 2013; Office Web Apps 2010 SP1 and SP2; and Office Web Apps Server 2013 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."

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Word that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Office document (.doc file). The vulnerability affects Word 2003/2007/2010/2013, Office Compatibility Pack, Word Viewer, SharePoint Server 2010/2013, and Office Web Apps products.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates (MS14-001) to all affected Microsoft Word and Office products, or disable OLE embedding and use email filtering to block suspicious Office attachments until patching is feasible.

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
Office Compatibility PackApplication
Affected:all versions
Office Web AppsApplication
Affected:= 2010
Office Web Apps ServerApplication
Affected:= 2013
Sharepoint ServerApplication
Affected:= 2010= 2013
WordApplication
Affected:= 2003= 2007= 2010= 2013
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. Check installed Microsoft Word version
    Open Windows Explorer, navigate to the Office installation folder (typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\), locate WINWORD.EXE, right-click and select Properties, then view the Details tab for the Version field. Alternatively, open Word, go to File > Account > About Word.
    Affected if The version listed is 2003, 2007, 2010, or 2013 (any sub-version within these major releases).
  2. Check installed Microsoft Office version
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, locate Microsoft Office in the list, and note the version year displayed. For Office Compatibility Pack, check under Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Service Pack 3 or similar entries in the installed programs list.
    Affected if Microsoft Office 2003, 2007, 2010, or 2013 is installed, or Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack appears in the installed programs list.
  3. Check Microsoft Word Viewer version
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, locate Microsoft Word Viewer in the list of installed programs, and note the version. If installed, the program is typically found under Microsoft Office or as a standalone entry.
    Affected if Microsoft Word Viewer appears in the installed programs list (all versions are affected).
  4. Check Microsoft SharePoint Server version
    On the SharePoint server, open Central Administration > System Settings > Manage servers in this farm, or run "Get-SPFarm | Select-Object BuildVersion" in SharePoint Management Shell. The BuildVersion indicates the version (14 = 2010, 15 = 2013).
    Affected if SharePoint Server 2010 or SharePoint Server 2013 is installed (BuildVersion shows 14.x or 15.x).
  5. Check Microsoft Office Web Apps or Office Web Apps Server version
    On the server running Office Web Apps, open Programs and Features to check if Office Web Apps 2010 or Office Web Apps Server 2013 is installed. Alternatively, check the server name in Central Administration under Application Management > Manage services on server.
    Affected if Office Web Apps 2010 or Office Web Apps Server 2013 is installed on the server.

A system is affected if any of the following are installed: Microsoft Word 2003/2007/2010/2013, Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack, Microsoft Word Viewer, or the relevant SharePoint/Office Web Apps server versions, particularly if the system opens or processes .doc document files.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates (MS14-001) to all affected Microsoft Word and Office products, or disable OLE embedding and use email filtering to block suspicious Office attachments until patching is feasible.

Fix this in Office Compatibility Pack Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2014-0260 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