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OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2015-1650

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-04-14
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 Word 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, Word 2013 SP1, Word 2013 RT SP1, Word Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server 2010 SP2 and 2013 SP1, and Office Web Apps Server 2010 SP2 and 2013 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 Word components allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via specially crafted Office documents. The vulnerability affects Word 2007 SP3, Office/Word 2010 SP2, Word 2013 SP1/RT SP1, Word Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server 2010/2013 SP1, and Office Web Apps Server 2010/2013 SP1.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates MS15-033 or subsequent patches for affected Office products; enforce protected view for untrusted documents and restrict opening of Office files from untrusted sources.

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
Office Compatibility PackApplication
Affected:all versions
Office Web AppsApplication
Affected:= 2010= 2013
Sharepoint ServerApplication
Affected:= 2010= 2013
WordApplication
Affected:= 2007= 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 installed Microsoft Word version
    Open Word, go to File > Account > About Word, or run 'winword.exe /?' from command prompt to see version number
    Affected if Version is 2007 SP3, 2010 SP2, or 2013 SP1/RT SP1 (or any version matching 2007, 2010, or 2013 per the affected ranges provided)
  2. Check installed Office suite version
    Open any Office app (Excel, PowerPoint), go to File > Account > About, or check registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration for Office 365/2016+
    Affected if Office version matches 2010 (or versions in the affected range) as listed in the CVE data
  3. Check Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack version
    Search for 'CNV' or 'WordConv' in Program Files, or check registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\WORDICON.EXE for Office Compatibility Pack installations
    Affected if Compatibility Pack is installed (per CVE, all versions are affected)
  4. Check Word Viewer installation
    Search for 'WordView.exe' in Program Files or check registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\WordView.exe
    Affected if Word Viewer is installed (per CVE, all versions are affected)
  5. Check Office Web Apps or SharePoint Server version
    For SharePoint: go to SharePoint Central Administration > System Settings > Manage servers in this farm. For Office Web Apps: check installed programs or server version information
    Affected if SharePoint Server 2010/2013 SP1 or Office Web Apps Server 2010/2013 SP1 is running (per CVE affected versions)

A system is affected if any Word, Office, Office Compatibility Pack, Word Viewer, SharePoint Server, or Office Web Apps component matching the version ranges (2007, 2010, 2013) from the CVE is installed and the vulnerable Word parsing functionality is used.

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 updates MS15-033 or subsequent patches for affected Office products; enforce protected view for untrusted documents and restrict opening of Office files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft no longer supports Office 2007; consider upgrading to a supported version like Office 2016/2019/365 or Office 2021 for long-term security support

  1. Locate the Microsoft Security Bulletin MS15-033 which addresses this vulnerability
  2. Identify the specific security update required for your installed product version from the bulletin
  3. Apply the appropriate security update via Microsoft Update or by downloading from the Microsoft Download Center
  4. Restart the affected system after applying the update
  5. Verify the update was successfully installed by checking installed updates
Caveat Security updates typically have minimal risk; however, test in a staging environment first to ensure compatibility with existing workflows

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

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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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-2015-1650 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