CVE-2015-6092
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 · uneditedMicrosoft Word 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, Word 2013 SP1, Word 2013 RT SP1, Word 2016, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, 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 confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Word and Office products allows attackers to execute arbitrary code by enticing users to open specially crafted Office documents. The flaw exists in how Microsoft Word parses malformed files, leading to memory corruption that can be leveraged for code execution.
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= 2010all versions= 2007= 2010= 2013= 2016all versionsCVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Microsoft Word versionOpen Word, go to File > Account > About Word, or run 'winword /?' from command prompt, or check Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\WINWORD.EXEAffected if Version is 2007, 2010, 2013, or 2016 (check exact build number against Microsoft security bulletin MS15-116)
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Identify Microsoft Office suite versionCheck Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration or look at installed programs in Control Panel > Programs and FeaturesAffected if Office 2010 is installed (any build)
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Check Microsoft Office Compatibility PackCheck Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Common\AddIns\WLL or look in Programs and Features for 'Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint'Affected if Any version is installed (all versions affected)
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Check Microsoft Word ViewerCheck for installation at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\WordViewer or check Programs and FeaturesAffected if Any version is installed (all versions affected)
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Determine document handling exposureCheck if Windows Explorer preview pane is enabled for Word documents: open any folder, view menu > preview pane, or check Registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\PreviewPaneAutoLoadAffected if Preview pane is enabled and users commonly receive untrusted Office attachments
System is vulnerable if any affected Word, Office, Compatibility Pack, or Word Viewer version is installed AND the system handles or previews untrusted Office documents without the MS15-116 patch applied.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedApply Microsoft security patches (MS15-116 or subsequent updates) to all affected Microsoft Office installations. Until patched, warn users against opening untrusted Office documents and consider disabling Microsoft Word's preview pane.
Microsoft no longer provides security updates for Office 2010, Office 2013 RT, Office Compatibility Pack, and Word Viewer as these products have reached end of support. For continued protection, upgrade to a supported version: Office 2016, Office 2019, or Microsoft 365
- Identify the specific installed version of Microsoft Office/Word by opening Word, clicking File > Account > About Word
- For Office 2010 (SP2): Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS15-116 (November 10, 2015) or subsequent security updates
- For Office 2013 (SP1): Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS15-116 (November 10, 2015) or subsequent security updates
- For Office 2016: Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS15-116 (November 10, 2015) or subsequent security updates
- For Office Compatibility Pack: Apply the update from the same bulletin (KB3101554)
- For Word Viewer: Apply the update from the same bulletin (KB3101557)
- Restart all Microsoft Office applications after applying updates
- Verify the update was successful by checking Windows Update history or by re-running the specific KB update
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-6092 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-6092 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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