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OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2015-2379

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-07-14
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
Microsoft Word 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, Word 2013 SP1, Word 2013 RT SP1, Office for Mac 2011, and Word Viewer allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) 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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Word's document parsing allows remote code execution via specially crafted Office documents. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of malformed document structures, enabling an attacker to overwrite memory and execute arbitrary code.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates KB3055034 (Word) and KB3054848 (Office for Mac) to all affected installations. Until patches are applied, block opening of untrusted Office documents and disable embedding features.

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
WordApplication
Affected:= 2007= 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, 2010, or 2013
  2. Check installed Microsoft Office version
    Open any Office app, go to File > Account > About, or check Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel
    Affected if Office version is 2010 or 2011 for Mac
  3. Check Microsoft Word Viewer installation
    Search for 'WordViewer.exe' in Program Files or check installed programs for Microsoft Word Viewer
    Affected if Microsoft Word Viewer is installed (any version)
  4. Verify document handling exposure
    Determine if the system is used to open Word documents from external or untrusted sources, or check email client attachment handling
    Affected if System regularly processes Word documents from external sources without prior scrutiny

System is affected if any installed Microsoft Word, Office 2010/2011, or Word Viewer version matches the affected versions and the system handles untrusted Word 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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates KB3055034 (Word) and KB3054848 (Office for Mac) to all affected installations. Until patches are applied, block opening of untrusted Office documents and disable embedding features.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft 365, Office 2019, Office 2016, or apply MS15-070 security patch for Office 2010/2007

  1. 1. Verify the current Microsoft Office/Word version by opening any Office application, clicking File, then Account
  2. 2. For Office 2010, Office 2007, and Word 2010/2007: Navigate to Microsoft Update or open Windows Update and install security bulletin MS15-070 (July 2015) which addresses this vulnerability
  3. 3. For Office for Mac 2011: Apply the July 2015 security update from Microsoft or upgrade to a supported version
  4. 4. For Word Viewer: Microsoft recommends removing this deprecated software and using Microsoft Word or Office viewer instead
  5. 5. Alternatively, migrate to Microsoft 365, Office 2019, or Office 2016 which include the security fix
  6. 6. After patching/upgrading, restart the computer and verify the Office version includes the security update
Caveat Patching should not introduce breaking changes; however, older Office 2007/2010 installations may lack compatibility with newer file formats and features

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

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2015-2379 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