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OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2016-3234

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-06-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 Word 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Word Viewer, Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server 2010 SP2, Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server 2013 SP1, Office Web Apps 2010 SP2, and Office Web Apps Server 2013 SP1 allow remote attackers to obtain sensitive information from process memory via a crafted Office document, aka "Microsoft Office Information Disclosure 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

An information disclosure vulnerability in Microsoft Word and related Office products allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information from process memory by convincing a user to open a specially crafted Office document. The flaw exists in how the affected software handles crafted documents, leading to memory disclosure.

MitigationApply Microsoft security patches for CVE-2016-3234 to all affected Word versions and SharePoint/Office Web Apps installations. Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening 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
Office Compatibility PackApplication
Affected:all versions
Office Web AppsApplication
Affected:= 2010= 2013
Sharepoint ServerApplication
Affected:= 2010= 2013
WordApplication
Affected:= 2007= 2010
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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 Microsoft Word version
    Open Word, go to File > Account > About Word, or run 'winword /?' from command prompt to display version information
    Affected if Installed version is 2007 or 2010
  2. Check Microsoft Office version
    Open any Office app, go to File > Account > About [App], or check Registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration for Office 365/2016+ or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Common\InstallRoot for Office 2010
    Affected if Installed version is Office 2010
  3. Check for Microsoft Word Viewer
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, look for 'Microsoft Word Viewer' in the installed programs list, or check Registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\WORDVIEW.EXE
    Affected if Word Viewer is installed (any version)
  4. Check for Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, look for 'Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint' or check Registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Word\Comptibility\Addins
    Affected if Compatibility Pack is installed (any version)
  5. Check Microsoft SharePoint Server or Office Web Apps version
    Check SharePoint version via SharePoint Administration Central > Farm Version, or check Registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SharePoint\ProductVersion. For Office Web Apps, check the version of the OfficeWebApps service on the server
    Affected if SharePoint Server 2010 or 2013, or Office Web Apps 2010 or 2013 is deployed

Your environment is affected if any of the following are installed: Word 2007, Word 2010, Office 2010, Word Viewer (any version), Office Compatibility Pack (any version), SharePoint Server 2010/2013, or Office Web Apps 2010/2013.

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 for CVE-2016-3234 to all affected Word versions and SharePoint/Office Web Apps installations. Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening documents from untrusted sources.

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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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

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-2016-3234 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