Office Compatibility PackApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2014-6335

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-11-11
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 2007 SP3, Word Viewer, and Office Compatibility Pack SP3 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted Office document, aka "Microsoft Office Invalid Pointer 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 confidence

CVE-2014-6335 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2007 SP3, Word Viewer, and Office Compatibility Pack SP3 caused by improper pointer handling. Attackers exploit this by tricking users into opening specially crafted Word documents, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution or denial of service.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update MS14-064 (or subsequent cumulative updates) to all affected Office installations. Until patched, instruct users not to open documents from untrusted sources and consider deploying Office viewers with restricted document handling.

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 Word ViewerApplication
Affected:all versions
WordApplication
Affected:= 2007

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 for Microsoft Word 2007 installation
    Open Word, go to File > Help, or check Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel for Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 or Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007
    Affected if Word 2007 is installed (version 2007)
  2. Verify Word version number
    In Word, click File > Account > About Word; look for build number 14.0.xxxx
    Affected if Version shows 14.0 with any build, indicating Office 2007
  3. Check for Word Viewer
    Search for WordViewer.exe in Program Files, or check installed programs for Microsoft Office Word Viewer
    Affected if Word Viewer is installed (any version)
  4. Check for Office Compatibility Pack
    Search for WINWORD.EXE in the Office12 compatibility pack folder, or check installed programs for Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word/Excel/PowerPoint
    Affected if Office Compatibility Pack is installed (any version)
  5. Verify patch status
    Check Windows Update history or installed updates for security update KB2996225 (part of MS14-064)
    Affected if Security update KB2996225 is NOT installed

User is affected if any of Word 2007, Word Viewer, or Office Compatibility Pack is present and security update KB2996225 has not been applied.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security update MS14-064 (or subsequent cumulative updates) to all affected Office installations. Until patched, instruct users not to open documents from untrusted sources and consider deploying Office viewers with restricted document handling.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft Office 365 (recommended) or Office 2019/Office 2021 (perpetual licenses)

  1. 1. Assess current Microsoft Office installation version and service pack level
  2. 2. For organizations requiring continued legacy support: apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS14-081 update (KB2984942 for Word 2007 SP3) via Windows Update or Microsoft Update Catalog
  3. 3. For long-term security: migrate to a supported Microsoft Office version (Office 365, Office 2021, or Office 2019) which receives regular security updates
  4. 4. Ensure all Office applications are updated to latest supported version before discontinuing legacy product use
  5. 5. Implement user training on safe document handling practices to mitigate risks from malicious Office files
Caveat Legacy Office 2007 products reached end of support in October 2017; upgrading may require new licensing, and legacy macro scripts/formats may require remediation for compatibility with newer Office versions

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Office Compatibility Pack Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2014-6335 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