dbcve.org
ExcelApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2016-7236

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-11-10
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 Excel 2010 SP2, Excel for Mac 2011, Excel 2016 for Mac, and Excel Services on SharePoint Server 2010 SP2 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 confidence

Memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Excel allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted Office documents. The flaw affects Excel 2010 SP2, Excel for Mac 2011, Excel 2016 for Mac, and Excel Services on SharePoint Server 2010 SP2.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update MS16-133 to all affected Excel installations. Additionally, configure Office macro settings to disable macros in untrusted documents and train users to avoid opening Office files 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
ExcelApplication
Affected:= 2010
Excel For MacApplication
Affected:= 2011= 2016
Sharepoint ServerApplication
Affected:= 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:3.0/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 Microsoft Excel version on Windows
    Open Excel, go to File > Account > About Excel, or run 'winver' and cross-reference with Office version via 'appwiz.cpl' or PowerShell: Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration' | Select-Object Version
    Affected if Version shows Excel 2010 with Service Pack 2 installed, or any version prior to applying MS16-133 security update
  2. Check Microsoft Excel for Mac version
    Open Excel for Mac, go to Excel > About Microsoft Excel, or run 'defaults read /Applications/Microsoft\ Excel.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString' in Terminal
    Affected if Version shows Excel for Mac 2011 or Excel for Mac 2016 without security update MS16-133 applied
  3. Verify Excel Services on SharePoint Server 2010
    On SharePoint Server 2010, open Central Administration > Application Management > Manage service applications > Excel Services Application > Trusted File Locations. Check if Excel Services is configured and which SharePoint version is running
    Affected if SharePoint Server 2010 with Service Pack 2 is running and Excel Services is enabled without MS16-133 applied
  4. Confirm macro execution settings
    In Excel, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Macro Settings. Check whether macros are enabled or disabled for untrusted documents
    Affected if Macros are set to 'Enable all macros' or 'Disable all macros with notification' in untrusted locations - the vulnerability can be triggered even without macros in the malicious file itself, but open Office documents from untrusted sources is the attack vector

Your environment is affected if you run Excel 2010 SP2, Excel for Mac 2011, Excel 2016 for Mac, or SharePoint Server 2010 SP2 with Excel Services, and you have not applied Microsoft security update MS16-133.

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 update MS16-133 to all affected Excel installations. Additionally, configure Office macro settings to disable macros in untrusted documents and train users to avoid opening Office files from untrusted sources.

Fix this in Excel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2016-7236 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
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