CVE-2014-4114
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 Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, and Windows RT Gold and 8.1 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted OLE object in an Office document, as exploited in the wild with a "Sandworm" attack in June through October 2014, aka "Windows OLE Remote Code Execution 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 confidenceThis is a remote code execution vulnerability in Windows OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code by embedding a specially crafted OLE object in Office documents. The vulnerability was actively exploited by the 'Sandworm' threat group in 2014.
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 dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versions= r2all versions= r2all versionsCVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 the installed Windows versionRun 'winver' from the command line, or check System Properties, or run 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"'Affected if The version is Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Vista, Windows Rt, Windows Rt 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server 2012 R2
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Verify if security update MS14-060 is installedOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates and search for 'KB3000869' or 'MS14-060', or run 'wmic qfe list' from an elevated command promptAffected if The security update KB3000869 (MS14-060) is NOT listed among installed updates
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Check OLE is enabled (default vulnerable state)Confirm that OLE has not been disabled. On unpatched systems, OLE is enabled by default. You may verify the presence of OLE functionality by opening an Office application and confirming the Insert > Object option is availableAffected if OLE remains enabled (default configuration) on an unpatched system
A system is affected if it runs any of the listed Windows versions AND the MS14-060 (KB3000869) update is not installed, leaving OLE in its default enabled state.
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 update MS14-060 (or subsequent cumulative updates that include the fix) to all affected Windows systems. For legacy systems no longer receiving patches, consider disabling OLE functionality or upgrading to supported Windows versions.
Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS14-060 (KB2999226 or the specific KB listed in the bulletin for your Windows version)
- Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS14-060, which addresses CVE-2014-4114 (Windows OLE Remote Code Execution Vulnerability)
- For Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008: Install the relevant security update from MS14-060
- For Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: Install the relevant security update from MS14-060
- For Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows RT, and Windows RT 8.1: Install the relevant security update from MS14-060
- Alternatively, enable the 'kill bit' for OLE32.dll as a workaround to disable OLE embedded objects (via registry: set 'Enabled' DWORD value to 0 in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OLE)
- After patching, verify the vulnerability is mitigated using relevant security scanning tools
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-4114 — 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-2014-4114 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