dbcve.org
OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2016-0126

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-05-11
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 Office 2013 SP1, 2013 RT SP1, and 2016 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 · high confidence

A memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Office 2013 SP1, 2013 RT SP1, and 2016 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a specially crafted Office document. The vulnerability stems from improper memory handling when parsing Office files.

MitigationApply Microsoft security patches to affected Office installations and avoid opening Office documents from untrusted or 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= 2016

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. Check installed Microsoft Office version
    Open Word/Excel/PowerPoint, go to File > Account > About [App] or check registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\ProductReleaseIds or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\[Version]\Common\InstallRoot
    Affected if Version shows 2013 with Service Pack 1, 2013 RT SP1, or 2016 (any build)
  2. Verify exact build number
    In the Office application, go to File > Account > About and note the full build number (e.g., 15.0.xxxx.xxxx for Office 2013 or 16.0.xxxx.xxxx for Office 2016)
    Affected if Build number falls within the vulnerable build ranges for Office 2013 SP1, 2013 RT SP1, or Office 2016 as listed in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-004
  3. Confirm Office file parsing is used
    The vulnerability is triggered when Microsoft Office parses specially crafted Office documents (.doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx)
    Affected if Users open Office documents from any source, which is the normal and expected use of Microsoft Office

User is affected if Microsoft Office 2013 SP1, 2013 RT SP1, or 2016 is installed and users open Office documents, since the memory corruption occurs during 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 Microsoft security patches to affected Office installations and avoid opening Office documents from untrusted or unknown sources.

Fix this in Office Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get help mitigating

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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2016-0126 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