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OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2014-6357

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-12-11
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
Use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Office 2010 SP2, Office 2013 Gold and SP1, Office 2013 RT Gold and SP1, Office for Mac 2011, Word Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server 2010 SP2 and 2013 Gold and SP1, and Office Web Apps 2010 SP2 and 2013 Gold and SP1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Office document, aka "Use After Free Word 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

Use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Word and related Office components (Office 2010/2013, Word Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack, SharePoint Word Automation Services, Office Web Apps) allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via specially crafted Office documents.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates (MS14-081) to all affected Office installations, and implement defense-in-depth controls such as disabling macro execution in untrusted documents and using exploit mitigation tools.

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
OfficeApplication
Affected:= 2010= 2011= 2013
Office Compatibility PackApplication
Affected:all versions
Sharepoint ServerApplication
Affected:= 2010= 2013
Web ApplicationsApplication
Affected:= 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 if Microsoft Word or Office with Word component is installed
    Open Word, go to File > Account > About Word, or run 'winword.exe' from Command Prompt to verify installation
    Affected if Word.exe exists and runs on the system
  2. Determine the installed Office/Word version
    Run 'winword.exe /?' or check Registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\ProductReleaseIds (Office 2013) or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\14.0 (2010) or 15.0 (2013)
    Affected if Version matches Office 2010, 2011 (Mac), or 2013 (any subversion)
  3. Check for Office Compatibility Pack installation
    Check Registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Office12.CONFIG or look for 'Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint' in Programs and Features
    Affected if Compatibility Pack is installed (all versions affected)
  4. Check for Word Viewer installation
    Check Registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\WordViewer or search for 'WordViewer.exe' in Program Files
    Affected if Word Viewer is installed (all versions affected)
  5. Check for SharePoint Server with Word Automation Services
    Check installed programs for 'Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010' or '2013', or check Services for 'Word Automation Services' in SharePoint Central Administration
    Affected if SharePoint Server 2010 or 2013 with Word Automation Services is configured

The system is affected if any of the following are true: Office 2010/2011/2013 with Word is installed, Office Compatibility Pack is installed, Word Viewer is installed, or SharePoint Server 2010/2013 with Word Automation Services is running.

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 (MS14-081) to all affected Office installations, and implement defense-in-depth controls such as disabling macro execution in untrusted documents and using exploit mitigation tools.

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,050
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,880.

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-2014-6357 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