CVE-2018-0798
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 · uneditedEquation Editor in Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Office 2013, and Microsoft Office 2016 allows a remote code execution vulnerability due to the way objects are handled in memory, 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 confidenceCVE-2018-0798 is a memory corruption vulnerability in the Equation Editor component bundled with Microsoft Office 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. The vulnerability allows remote code execution when a user opens a specially crafted Office document containing maliciously crafted Equation Editor objects, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user.
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= 2007= 2010= 2013= 2016all versions= 2007= 2010= 2013= 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
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate the Equation Editor componentSearch for eqnedt32.exe on the system. Common paths include C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX\ (where XX varies by version) and C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX\. Also check C:\Windows\System32\eqnedt32.exe.Affected if The file eqnedt32.exe exists on the system, indicating the Equation Editor component is present.
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Determine installed Microsoft Office versionOpen any Office application (such as Word or Excel), click File, then Account or Help, and note the version information displayed. Alternatively, check the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration or version-specific keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office.Affected if The installed version is 2007, 2010, 2013, or 2016, matching the affected version range.
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Verify the Equation Editor is not disabledCheck the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Common\COM Compatibility\{0002CE02-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} (or similar COM registration for eqnedt32.exe) to see if the component is actively registered. Also confirm the eqnedt32.exe file has not been renamed, moved, or deleted as a mitigation.Affected if The Equation Editor component remains registered and functional (not disabled, renamed, or removed).
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Check for applied security updatesOpen Windows Update, view update history, or check the installed updates list for security update MS18-012 or any subsequent Office security updates that address CVE-2018-0798.Affected if No security update specifically addressing CVE-2018-0798 (such as MS18-012) has been installed.
The system is affected if Microsoft Office 2007, 2010, 2013, or 2016 is installed, the Equation Editor component (eqnedt32.exe) is present and functional, and the MS18-012 or subsequent security patch has not been applied.
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 Microsoft security patches for CVE-2018-0798 (part of January 2018 security updates) to all affected Office installations. Until patches are applied, instruct users to not open untrusted Office documents and consider disabling the Equation Editor component via registry settings or enterprise policy.
- Open Windows Update (Windows Key + R, type: windowsupdate) and check for updates
- Install all pending January 2018 Microsoft Security Updates, or manually download updates from the Microsoft Update Catalog for your specific Office version
- After installing updates, restart the computer if prompted
- Alternatively, download and run the Microsoft FixIt tool from the Microsoft article addressing this CVE to disable Equation Editor as a workaround
- Verify the update was installed by checking installed updates or using the Microsoft Update Catalog
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-0798 — 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-2018-0798 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
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- 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