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InfopathApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2016-0021

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-03-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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 InfoPath 2007 SP3, 2010 SP2, and 2013 SP1 allows 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 · moderate confidence

A memory corruption vulnerability exists in Microsoft InfoPath versions 2007 SP3, 2010 SP2, and 2013 SP1. The vulnerability is triggered when InfoPath parses a specially crafted Office document, leading to arbitrary code execution with the current user's privileges.

MitigationApply the relevant Microsoft security update (MS16-004) to address the memory corruption flaw. Additionally, enforce user awareness to avoid opening untrusted or unsolicited Office documents.

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
InfopathApplication
Affected:= 2007= 2010= 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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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. Verify if Microsoft InfoPath is installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' via PowerShell to list installed Microsoft Office applications
    Affected if InfoPath is not present in the installed programs list, then the system is not affected
  2. Determine the installed InfoPath version number
    Check the Windows Registry under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Office\[version]\InfoPath\InstallRoot, where version corresponds to the Office suite version (12.0 for Office 2007, 14.0 for Office 2010, 15.0 for Office 2013), or inspect the version shown in Programs and Features
    Affected if The displayed version matches 2007 Service Pack 3, 2010 Service Pack 2, or 2013 Service Pack 1, indicating the system falls within the affected version range
  3. Confirm the Service Pack level for Office 2007
    Run 'winver' or check the Office version via File > Help in InfoPath, or query the registry key for the Service Pack level under the Office installation path
    Affected if The installed version shows as Office 2007 with Service Pack 3 applied
  4. Confirm the Service Pack level for Office 2010
    Run 'winver' or check the Office version via File > Help in InfoPath, or query the registry key for the Service Pack level under the Office installation path
    Affected if The installed version shows as Office 2010 with Service Pack 2 applied
  5. Confirm the Service Pack level for Office 2013
    Run 'winver' or check the Office version via File > Help in InfoPath, or query the registry key for the Service Pack level under the Office installation path
    Affected if The installed version shows as Office 2013 with Service Pack 1 applied

A system is affected if Microsoft InfoPath is installed and the version matches 2007 SP3, 2010 SP2, or 2013 SP1, as these specific versions contain the memory corruption vulnerability in document parsing.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the relevant Microsoft security update (MS16-004) to address the memory corruption flaw. Additionally, enforce user awareness to avoid opening untrusted or unsolicited Office documents.

Fix this in Infopath Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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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-2016-0021 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
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