OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2015-1760

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-06-10
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 Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Office 2013 SP1, and Office 2013 RT SP1 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Office document, aka "Microsoft Office Memory Corruption 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

A memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Office allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by tricking users into opening specially crafted Office documents. The vulnerability affects Office 2010 SP2, Office 2013 SP1, Office 2013 RT SP1, and Office Compatibility Pack SP3.

MitigationApply the relevant Microsoft security update (MS15-116) to patch the memory corruption vulnerability in affected Microsoft Office installations.

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= 2013
Office Compatibility PackApplication
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. Identify installed Microsoft Office products
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShell to list installed Office products
    Affected if Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Office 2013, or Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack appears in the installed programs list
  2. Check Office 2010 version and Service Pack
    Open any Office 2010 application (such as Word), go to File > Help, and verify the version number under 'About Microsoft [App]'. Look for version 14.0.xxxx. The SP2 designation means Service Pack 2 must be applied.
    Affected if Office 2010 is installed (any version, including SP2)
  3. Check Office 2013 version and Service Pack
    Open any Office 2013 application (such as Word), go to File > Account, and verify the version under 'Product Information'. Look for version 15.0.xxxx. The SP1 designation means Service Pack 1 must be applied.
    Affected if Office 2013 is installed (any version, including SP1 and RT SP1)
  4. Check for Office Compatibility Pack installation
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or use the PowerShell command from step 1, and look for 'Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint' in the installed programs list
    Affected if Office Compatibility Pack is installed (any version)
  5. Verify vulnerability trigger condition
    Confirm that the system can open Office document files (.doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx). This vulnerability is triggered when a user opens a specially crafted malicious Office document.
    Affected if The system has an affected Office product AND can open Office documents (file associations exist for Office file types)

A user is affected if Microsoft Office 2010, Office 2013, or Office Compatibility Pack is installed on the system, since the vulnerability exists in all versions of these products as specified.

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 the relevant Microsoft security update (MS15-116) to patch the memory corruption vulnerability in affected Microsoft Office installations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Office 2016 or Microsoft 365 for continued security support (Office 2010 and 2013 have reached end of support)

  1. Check installed Microsoft Office version by opening any Office application, going to File > Account > About [App]
  2. For Office 2010: Ensure Windows Update is enabled and check for security updates, specifically MS15-081 or later cumulative update
  3. For Office 2013: Ensure Windows Update is enabled and check for security updates, specifically MS15-081 or later cumulative update
  4. For Office Compatibility Pack: Ensure Windows Update is enabled and install all pending Office updates
  5. If automatic updates are disabled, manually download updates from Microsoft Update Catalog
  6. After applying updates, verify the installed version includes the security fix
  7. Restart all Office applications after updates complete
  8. For long-term mitigation: Consider upgrading to Office 2016 or Microsoft 365 which receive ongoing security support
Caveat Upgrading to newer Office versions may require file format migration and users may need to learn new interface; legacy Office Compatibility Pack not needed for newer Office versions

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

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2015-1760 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