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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. Known ransomware use
OfficeApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2017-0199

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-04-12
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 Ransomware High EPSS 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 Office 2007 SP3, Microsoft Office 2010 SP2, Microsoft Office 2013 SP1, Microsoft Office 2016, Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted document, aka "Microsoft Office/WordPad Remote Code Execution Vulnerability w/Windows API."

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

A remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Office and Windows allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via specially crafted malicious documents. The vulnerability involves the Windows API processing of OLE objects embedded in Office documents (such as Word or RTF files), enabling code execution without user interaction beyond opening the file.

MitigationApply Microsoft security patches (KB4019095 and related updates), disable OLE embedding in Office Trust Center settings, and enable Protected View for documents from untrusted sources. User awareness training to avoid opening suspicious attachments is also critical.

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:= 2007= 2010= 2013= 2016
Windows 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2008Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2
Windows Server 2012Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows VistaOperating system
Affected:all versions
Intellispace PortalApplication
Affected:= 7.0= 8.0

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. Check installed Microsoft Office version
    Open any Office application (Word, Excel), go to File > Account > About [App], or run 'winword /?' from command prompt. Compare the version number to 2007, 2010, 2013, or 2016.
    Affected if Office version is exactly 2007, 2010, 2013, or 2016 and patches are not applied.
  2. Check installed Windows version
    Run 'winver' from Start menu search or 'systeminfo' from command prompt. Note the Windows version (Vista, 7, Server 2008, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012).
    Affected if Windows version is Vista (any), Windows 7 (any), Windows Server 2008 (any), Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2012 (any), and patches are not applied.
  3. Verify if OLE embedding is enabled in Office Trust Center
    In any Office application, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > External Content. Check if 'Enable embedding of content in Office Open XML files' or similar OLE settings are allowed.
    Affected if OLE embedding is enabled (the default setting) - this is required for the exploit to function.
  4. Check if security updates KB4019095 or subsequent related Office/Windows patches are installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates, or run 'wmic qfe list' from command prompt. Search for KB4019095 or newer Security Bulletin entries for Office/Windows.
    Affected if The specific CVE patches (KB4019095 or later) are NOT installed on the system.
  5. Confirm Protected View is disabled for documents from untrusted sources
    In Office application, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Protected View. Check if all three options (Enable Protected View for files originating from the internet, Outlook, and potentially unsafe locations) are unchecked.
    Affected if Protected View is disabled, leaving users more vulnerable when opening untrusted documents.

The system is likely affected if it runs unpatched Office 2007/2010/2013/2016 or vulnerable Windows versions (Vista, 7, Server 2008/R2, Server 2012) with OLE embedding enabled and without the KB4019095 or subsequent security patches installed.

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 portal.msrc.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security patches (KB4019095 and related updates), disable OLE embedding in Office Trust Center settings, and enable Protected View for documents from untrusted sources. User awareness training to avoid opening suspicious attachments is also critical.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apply Microsoft April 2017 Security Updates (MS17-013) - This is a cumulative patch that includes the fix for CVE-2017-0199

  1. Ensure Microsoft Office and Windows are configured to receive automatic updates from Microsoft Update
  2. Run Microsoft Update and install all available updates from April 2017 (MS17-013 security update)
  3. For Office 2007: Install security update KB3178688
  4. For Office 2010: Install security update KB3178690
  5. For Office 2013: Install security update KB3172542
  6. For Office 2016: Install security update KB3178687
  7. For Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012: Install the MS17-013 security updates from Microsoft Update/KB4013429 and related patches
  8. For Intellispace Portal: Contact Philips for vendor-specific security patches for versions 7.0 and 8.0
Caveat No breaking changes expected; this is a security patch that fixes the vulnerability without changing functionality

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

Fix this in Office Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

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-2017-0199 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