dbcve.org
ExcelApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2015-0085

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-03-11
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 2007 SP3, Excel 2007 SP3, PowerPoint 2007 SP3, Word 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Excel 2010 SP2, PowerPoint 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, Office 2013 Gold and SP1, Word 2013 Gold and SP1, Office 2013 RT Gold and SP1, Word 2013 RT Gold and SP1, Excel Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server 2010 SP2, Excel Services on SharePoint Server 2013 Gold and SP1, Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server 2013 Gold and SP1, Web Applications 2010 SP2, Office Web Apps Server 2010 SP2, Web Apps Server 2013 Gold and SP1, SharePoint Server 2007 SP3, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP3, SharePoint Foundation 2010 SP2, SharePoint Server 2010 SP2, SharePoint Foundation 2013 Gold and SP1, and SharePoint Server 2013 Gold and SP1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Office document, aka "Microsoft Office Component Use After Free 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 Office components (2007-2013) and SharePoint products allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via specially crafted Office documents. The vulnerability exists in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and related Office services/components.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update MS15-022 to all affected Office installations, SharePoint servers, and Office Web Apps servers. Alternatively, enable Office Protected View and disable OLE embedding for untrusted documents as a defense-in-depth measure.

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
ExcelApplication
Affected:= 2007= 2010
Excel ViewerApplication
Affected:all versions
OfficeApplication
Affected:= 2010= 2013
Office Compatibility PackApplication
Affected:all versions
Office Web Apps ServerApplication
Affected:= 2010= 2013
PowerpointApplication
Affected:= 2007= 2010
Sharepoint FoundationApplication
Affected:= 2010= 2013
Sharepoint ServerApplication
Affected:= 2007= 2010= 2013

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. Identify installed Office products
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, look for Microsoft Office, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, or Microsoft Word. Alternatively, run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' to list installed Microsoft Office products via PowerShell.
    Affected if Any of the following products are installed: Microsoft Office (2010 or 2013), Microsoft Excel (2007 or 2010), Microsoft PowerPoint (2007 or 2010), Excel Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack, Office Web Apps Server (2010 or 2013), SharePoint Foundation (2010 or 2013), or SharePoint Server (2007, 2010, o
  2. Check Excel version
    Open Excel, go to File > Account > About Excel, or run 'winword.exe /?' (for Word) or 'excel.exe /?' in Command Prompt to retrieve version information. Check the build number against affected version lists.
    Affected if Excel version is 2007, 2010, or any version of Excel Viewer is installed.
  3. Check PowerPoint version
    Open PowerPoint, go to File > Account > About PowerPoint, or run 'powerpnt.exe /?' in Command Prompt to retrieve version information.
    Affected if PowerPoint version is 2007 or 2010.
  4. Check SharePoint 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.
    Affected if SharePoint Foundation or Server version is 2010 or 2013.
  5. Check Office Web Apps Server version
    On the Office Web Apps Server, run 'Get-OfficeWebAppsServer' in PowerShell (requires SharePoint Management Shell with OfficeWebApps module), or check the installed program version in Control Panel.
    Affected if Office Web Apps Server version is 2010 or 2013.
  6. Verify document handling exposure
    Check if Office Protected View is enabled: In Excel/Word/PowerPoint, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Protected View. Confirm whether users routinely open documents from external or untrusted sources.
    Affected if Protected View is disabled and users commonly open Office documents from external or untrusted sources, increasing the attack surface for this vulnerability.

A system is affected if any of the following products are installed without the MS15-022 patch: Microsoft Office (2010 or 2013), Excel (2007 or 2010), PowerPoint (2007 or 2010), Excel Viewer (any version), Office Compatibility Pack (any version), Office Web Apps Server (2010 or 2013), SharePoint Foundation (2010 or 2013), or SharePoint Server (2007, 2010, or 2013).

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 MS15-022 to all affected Office installations, SharePoint servers, and Office Web Apps servers. Alternatively, enable Office Protected View and disable OLE embedding for untrusted documents as a defense-in-depth measure.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS15-022 patches, or upgrade to later supported versions of Microsoft Office (Office 2016/2019/Microsoft 365) which include the security fix

  1. Locate the Microsoft Security Bulletin MS15-022 which addresses CVE-2015-0085
  2. Download and install the appropriate security update for your installed Microsoft Office product from the Microsoft Download Center or through Windows Update
  3. For Office 2007 products, install security update MS15-022 which includes patches for Office 2007 SP3
  4. For Office 2010 products, install security update MS15-022 which includes patches for Office 2010 SP2
  5. For Office 2013 products, install security update MS15-022 which includes patches for Office 2013 Gold and SP1
  6. For SharePoint products, apply the corresponding updates from MS15-022 for SharePoint Server 2010 SP2 or SharePoint Server 2013
  7. Restart all Microsoft Office applications and services after applying the update
  8. Verify the update was successfully installed by checking the installed updates via Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates
Caveat Security-only patch; no expected breaking changes for normal document operations

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

Fix this in Excel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,220
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,752.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-0085 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2015-0085 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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