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365 AppsApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2022-26804

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-12-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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 Graphics Remote Code Execution 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

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Office's graphics processing component. The vulnerability allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code by tricking a user into opening a specially crafted Office document containing malicious graphics content.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates for affected Office versions. Alternatively, enable Protected View for documents from untrusted sources and exercise caution with attachments from unknown senders.

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
365 AppsApplication
Affected:all versions

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 if Microsoft Office is installed
    Open any Office application (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), go to File > Account > About [App] to see the version, or check Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel for Microsoft Office or Microsoft 365
    Affected if Microsoft Office or Microsoft 365 Apps is installed and running graphics processing components
  2. Verify Office version against updates
    In any Office app, go to File > Account > Update Options > View Update History to see installed security updates. Check if updates from April 2022 or later are present
    Affected if Security updates for April 2022 or later are NOT installed (the version remains vulnerable)
  3. Check Protected View status
    In Office, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Protected View. Verify if Protected View is enabled for files from the internet and Outlook attachments
    Affected if Protected View is disabled for internet files and email attachments - the exploit can execute without protection
  4. Confirm graphics processing is active
    Open a document containing images or graphics (such as an RTF, DOCX with images, or XLSX with charts). The vulnerability triggers when the graphics component processes malicious content
    Affected if User opens specially crafted documents with malicious graphics content while no protection mechanisms are active

A user is affected if they have Microsoft Office installed without the April 2022 security updates and with Protected View disabled, then open a malicious crafted document containing graphics content.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates for affected Office versions. Alternatively, enable Protected View for documents from untrusted sources and exercise caution with attachments from unknown senders.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Microsoft 365 Apps (Current Channel) – latest version

  1. Open any Microsoft 365 application (e.g., Word, Excel).
  2. Go to File > Account.
  3. Click Update Options > Update Now.
  4. Allow the update to download and install the latest security patches, which includes the fix for CVE-2022-26804.
  5. After the update completes, verify the installed version by checking File > Account > About <app> to confirm you are on the latest Current Channel version.
Caveat Minor UI or feature changes may occur; test critical macros and add-ins after upgrading.

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

Fix this in 365 Apps Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,680
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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-2022-26804 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