CVE-2016-7277
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 · uneditedMicrosoft Office 2016 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted 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 confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Office 2016 that can be exploited via a specially crafted document, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service.
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= 2016CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Verify Office 2016 is installedOpen any Office application (such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint), go to File > Account or File > Help, and look for the version information displayed there. Alternatively, check the installed programs list in Windows Control Panel.Affected if Microsoft Office 2016 is present on the system
-
Confirm the exact Office version numberWithin the Office application, navigate to File > Account > About [App] (for example, About Word) to display the full version and build number. Compare this against the affected version range.Affected if The displayed version corresponds to Microsoft Office 2016 (exact version match)
-
Check Windows installed programsOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, locate Microsoft Office 2016 in the list, and verify the installed version displayed in the program entry.Affected if Microsoft Office 2016 appears in the installed programs with a valid version entry
A user is affected if Microsoft Office 2016 is installed and the specific version matches the affected release (version equals 2016).
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedApply the relevant Microsoft security update for Microsoft Office 2016 and exercise caution when opening documents from untrusted sources.
Apply Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-148 (or subsequent Office 2016 security updates)
- Open Microsoft Word or any Office 2016 application
- Go to File > Account > Update Options > Update Now
- Alternatively, open Windows Update (Windows Key + R, type: ms-settings:windowsupdate) and check for updates
- Install all available Office 2016 security updates, particularly any from December 2016 or later
- Restart the computer after installing updates
- Verify the update was installed by going to File > Account > About Word and noting the version number matches the latest available
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-7277 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-7277 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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