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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 18 Apr 2022.
OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2015-1770

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2015-06-10
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Remotely reachable No privileges Patch available

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 2013 SP1 and 2013 RT SP1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Office document, aka "Microsoft Office Uninitialized Memory Use 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 · moderate confidence

CVE-2015-1770 is an uninitialized memory use vulnerability in Microsoft Office 2013 SP1 and 2013 RT SP1 that allows remote code execution when a user opens a specially crafted Office document. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of memory during document parsing, potentially allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update MS15-022 (or subsequent Office updates) to affected systems, and implement user training to avoid opening untrusted or unexpected Office documents from unknown 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:= 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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 version
    Open any Office application (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), go to File > Account, and click About [App] to see the exact version and build number. Alternatively, run 'winword /?' from command prompt or check Programs and Features in Control Panel.
    Affected if The version displayed is Microsoft Office 2013 (any build, including SP1 and RT SP1)
  2. Confirm Office 2013 edition
    Check if the installation is Microsoft Office 2013 Professional, Standard, Home and Business, or other 2013 editions. Look in Programs and Features or the Office app's About screen.
    Affected if Any Microsoft Office 2013 edition is installed, regardless of language or specific SKU
  3. Determine if the system lacks the security patch
    Check Windows Update history for security update KB3039798 (the patch for CVE-2015-1770), or review installed updates via 'wmic qfe list' command and search for this KB number.
    Affected if The system is missing KB3039798 or the equivalent Office security update for this CVE
  4. Check if Protected View is disabled
    In Office 2013, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Protected View. Verify whether all Protected View options are disabled.
    Affected if Protected View is disabled for files from the internet and/or potentially unsafe locations, as this increases exploitability

If Microsoft Office 2013 is installed and the CVE-2015-1770 security patch (KB3039798) has not been applied, the environment is vulnerable to remote code execution via specially crafted Office documents.

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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch docs.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security update MS15-022 (or subsequent Office updates) to affected systems, and implement user training to avoid opening untrusted or unexpected Office documents from unknown sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 with latest cumulative security updates, or upgrade to Microsoft 365/Office 2016+

  1. Open Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint and go to File > Account > Update Options
  2. Select 'Update Now' to check for and install the latest Office updates
  3. Alternatively, open Windows Update (Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update)
  4. Click 'Check for updates' and install all available security updates for Microsoft Office
  5. Restart the computer after updates are installed
  6. Verify the update was successful by checking Installed Updates for the relevant security patch (e.g., KB... for MS15-022)

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

Fix this in Office Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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-2015-1770 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