CVE-2014-1758
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 · uneditedStack-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Word 2003 SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted document, aka "Microsoft Word Stack Overflow 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 · moderate confidenceA stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word 2003 SP3 that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code through a specially crafted document file. The vulnerability exploits how Word handles malformed data in documents, overflowing a stack buffer and allowing code execution in the context of the current 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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Identify Microsoft Word installationCheck Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, or look for Microsoft Office 2003 entries. The typical install path is C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\Affected if Microsoft Word 2003 is listed as installed software
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Confirm the exact Word versionLaunch Word and navigate to Help > About Microsoft Office Word, or right-click WINWORD.EXE and select Properties > Details to view the version numberAffected if The installed version is Microsoft Word 2003 (any build)
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Determine if documents can be openedThis vulnerability is triggered when Word opens a specially crafted .doc file. By default, Word 2003 allows opening documents from any locationAffected if Word can open document files (this is the default state)
If Microsoft Word 2003 is installed and document opening is enabled, the environment is affected by this vulnerability
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 · scopedSince Microsoft Word 2003 is end-of-life with no official security updates, organizations should migrate to supported Office versions or implement compensating controls such as restricting document opening from untrusted sources and deploying the Microsoft Office Isolated Conversion Environment (MOICE).
Microsoft 365, Office 2021, or Office 2019
- 1. Backup all important Microsoft Word documents and any custom templates or add-ins.
- 2. Uninstall Microsoft Office 2003 (including Word 2003) from the system.
- 3. Install a supported version of Microsoft Office (such as Microsoft 365, Office 2021, or Office 2019) which includes Word.
- 4. After installation, open Microsoft Word and verify all documents, macros, and customizations function correctly.
- 5. Ensure Windows Update is enabled and configure automatic updates for Office to receive future security patches.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-1758 — 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-2014-1758 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