CVE-2019-0541
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 · uneditedA remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that the MSHTML engine inproperly validates input, aka "MSHTML Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability." This affects Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Word Viewer, Internet Explorer 9, Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Excel Viewer, Internet Explorer 10, Office 365 ProPlus.
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 confidenceA remote code execution vulnerability in the MSHTML rendering engine that improperly validates input, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code via specially crafted web content or Office documents.
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= 11= 9= 10= 2007= 2010= 2013= 2016= 2019all versionsall versionsCVSS 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.
-
Identify Internet Explorer versionOpen Internet Explorer, go to Settings > About Internet Explorer, or run 'winver' command, or check registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer for the Version valueAffected if The installed version is 9, 10, or 11
-
Check for affected Microsoft Office installationsOpen any Office application (Word, Excel), go to File > Account > About [App], or check registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration for Office 365, or check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\[version]\Common\InstallRoot for installed Office versionsAffected if Office 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, or any version of Office 365 ProPlus is installed
-
Detect Office viewer productsCheck installed programs via Control Panel > Programs and Features, or query registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for entries containing 'Word Viewer' or 'Excel Viewer', or locate viewer executables in Program Files (e.g., wordview.exe, xlview.exe)Affected if Microsoft Word Viewer or Microsoft Excel Viewer is installed
The system is affected if Internet Explorer 9/10/11 OR any affected Office version (2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Office 365 ProPlus) OR Word Viewer OR Excel Viewer is installed, and the corresponding Microsoft security updates for CVE-2019-0541 have 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.
From vendor dataApply Microsoft security updates (KB4483183 for IE/MSHTML and associated Office patches) to all affected systems; prioritize Internet Explorer and Office products given the attack vector.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-0541 — 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-2019-0541 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