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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
VisioApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2016-3235

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-06-16
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Public exploit No privileges Patch available

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 Visio 2007 SP3, Visio 2010 SP2, Visio 2013 SP1, Visio 2016, Visio Viewer 2007 SP3, and Visio Viewer 2010 mishandle library loading, which allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Microsoft Office OLE DLL Side Loading 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

DLL side-loading vulnerability in Microsoft Visio and Visio Viewer where the applications improperly handle library loading, allowing local authenticated users to gain elevated privileges by placing a malicious DLL in a location Visio loads libraries from.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates KB3114400, KB3114401, KB3114403, KB3114404, and KB3114409 for the affected Visio versions. Until patched, restrict user permissions and monitor for unauthorized DLL loading.

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
VisioApplication
Affected:= 2007= 2010= 2013= 2016
Visio ViewerApplication
Affected:= 2007= 2010

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:3.1/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 Visio or Visio Viewer is installed
    Check for Visio installation by examining the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\[Version]\Common\InstallRoot, or look in Program Files for Visio folder
    Affected if Neither Visio nor Visio Viewer is installed on the system
  2. Identify the installed Visio version
    Run 'winver' or check the executable properties of VISIO.EXE (typically in Program Files\Microsoft Office\) to determine the exact version number (e.g., 12.0, 14.0, 15.0, 16.0)
    Affected if The installed version is 12.0 (2007), 14.0 (2010), 15.0 (2013), or 16.0 (2016) for Visio; or 12.0 (2007) or 14.0 (2010) for Visio Viewer
  3. Check if security patches are applied
    View installed updates in Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > View installed updates, or run 'wmic qfe list' command to see if KB3114400, KB3114401, KB3114403, KB3114404, or KB3114409 are installed
    Affected if None of the specified KB updates are installed on the vulnerable version
  4. Assess DLL side-loading exposure
    Examine directory permissions on Visio program directories (Program Files\Microsoft Office\) and user-writable directories in the DLL search path for unauthorized DLL placement
    Affected if Users have write permissions to directories in Visio's DLL search path and the unpatched version is running

The system is affected if Visio 2007, 2010, 2013, or 2016 or Visio Viewer 2007 or 2010 is installed without the corresponding security patches applied, allowing potential DLL side-loading attacks.

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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch docs.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates KB3114400, KB3114401, KB3114403, KB3114404, and KB3114409 for the affected Visio versions. Until patched, restrict user permissions and monitor for unauthorized DLL loading.

Recommended fix High confidence

Microsoft has released security patches for all affected versions via MS16-070; for long-term protection, consider upgrading to newer supported versions of Visio such as Microsoft 365 subscription-based Visio

  1. Open Windows Update or check Microsoft Update Catalog for security updates
  2. Search for Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-070, which addresses CVE-2016-3235
  3. For Visio 2007: Apply security update KB3114421
  4. For Visio 2010: Apply security update KB3114403
  5. For Visio 2013: Apply security update KB3114401
  6. For Visio 2016: Apply security update KB3114382
  7. For Visio Viewer 2007: Apply security update KB3114421
  8. For Visio Viewer 2010: Apply security update KB3114403
Caveat Patches are cumulative; applying MS16-070 may also include other security updates; ensure compatibility with existing Visio add-ins or macros before deployment in enterprise environments

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

Fix this in Visio Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,180
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,488.

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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-2016-3235 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