dbcve.org
OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2015-6091

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-11-11
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
Microsoft Word 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, Word 2013 SP1, Word 2013 RT SP1, Word 2016, and Word Viewer 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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Word (versions 2007 SP3 through 2016 and Word Viewer) allows remote code execution via specially crafted Office documents. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 9.3 indicating critical severity.

MitigationApply Microsoft security patches (MS15-116) to all affected Word installations. Until patched, enable Protected View in Microsoft Office to sandbox documents opened from untrusted sources and avoid opening Office documents 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
WordApplication
Affected:= 2007= 2010= 2013= 2016
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. Identify installed Microsoft Word version
    Open Word and go to File > Account > About Word, or run 'winword.exe' from command prompt to view version information in the title bar or About dialog
    Affected if Version falls between 2007 SP3 and 2016 inclusive (versions 12.0.x through 16.0.x)
  2. Check for Microsoft Word Viewer installation
    Search for WordView.exe in Program Files folders, or check Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel for Word Viewer entry
    Affected if Word Viewer is installed on the system (all versions are affected)
  3. Verify MS15-116 security patch is installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs > View installed updates, or run 'wmic qfe list | findstr 31015' command to check for KB31015xx updates
    Affected if The MS15-116 update is NOT present - the vulnerability is unpatched

System is affected if running unpatched Microsoft Word 2007 SP3 through 2016, any version of Word Viewer, or any affected Office suite without the MS15-116 patch applied

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 patches (MS15-116) to all affected Word installations. Until patched, enable Protected View in Microsoft Office to sandbox documents opened from untrusted sources and avoid opening Office documents from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS15-116 (November 2015 patches)

  1. Check the current Microsoft Office/Word version by opening Word and navigating to File > Account > About Word
  2. Open Windows Update (Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update) or visit https://catalog.update.microsoft.com/
  3. Search for the relevant security update based on your version: For Word 2007 install KB3101554, for Office 2010/Word 2010 install KB3101555, for Word 2013 install KB3101553, for Word 2016 install KB3101560, for Word Viewer install KB3116112
  4. Alternatively, download the specific update from Microsoft Update Catalog or the Microsoft Security Bulletin MS15-116 (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2015/ms15-116)
  5. Restart the computer after installing the update
  6. Verify the patch was installed successfully by checking Windows Update history
Caveat Patches are routine security updates with no expected breaking changes; however, test critical documents after deployment in production environments

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

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2015-6091 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