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.
OutlookApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2017-11774

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-10-13
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 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 Outlook 2010 SP2, Outlook 2013 SP1 and RT SP1, and Outlook 2016 allow an attacker to execute arbitrary commands, due to how Microsoft Office handles objects in memory, aka "Microsoft Outlook Security Feature Bypass 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

CVE-2017-11774 is a security feature bypass vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook that allows arbitrary command execution. The vulnerability exists due to improper memory handling when processing objects in Outlook, enabling an attacker to circumvent security restrictions and execute malicious commands on the affected system.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates KB4011086 (Outlook 2010), KB4011083 (Outlook 2013), and KB4011081 (Outlook 2016) or later. Until patches are applied, exercise caution with unexpected email attachments and external content.

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
OutlookApplication
Affected:= 2010= 2013= 2016

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. Identify installed Outlook version
    Open Outlook, go to File > Office Account > About Outlook, or run 'winword /version' from command prompt to see the version number
    Affected if Version is 2010, 2013, or 2016 (exact version numbers not specified in CVE)
  2. Confirm Outlook build number
    In Outlook, click File > Office Account > About Outlook to view the full build number
    Affected if Build number falls within the vulnerable release timeframe for 2010, 2013, or 2016 versions
  3. Check for security updates
    In Outlook, go to File > Office Account > Update Options > View Update History to see if KB4011086 (Outlook 2010), KB4011083 (Outlook 2013), or KB4011081 (Outlook 2016) are installed
    Affected if None of these specific KB updates are installed on the affected Outlook version

User is affected if they are running Outlook 2010, 2013, or 2016 without the KB4011086, KB4011083, or KB4011081 security updates respectively.

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
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates KB4011086 (Outlook 2010), KB4011083 (Outlook 2013), and KB4011081 (Outlook 2016) or later. Until patches are applied, exercise caution with unexpected email attachments and external content.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

For long-term security, upgrade to a supported Outlook version such as Office 365 or Outlook 2019/2021 which receive ongoing security updates

  1. Check current Outlook version by opening Outlook, going to File > Office Account > About Outlook
  2. Determine the applicable Microsoft security update for CVE-2017-11774 by searching Microsoft Update Catalog or viewing the original security bulletin at portal.msrc.microsoft.com
  3. Apply the relevant security update through Windows Update or manually download from Microsoft Update Catalog
  4. Restart the computer after installing the update
  5. Verify the update installed successfully by checking installed updates via Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates
Caveat Patching Outlook carries minimal risk; however ensure backup of PST files and test compatibility with any legacy add-ins before deploying broadly

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

Fix this in Outlook Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get it fixed fast

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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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2017-11774 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