CVE-2022-38010
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 · uneditedMicrosoft Office Visio 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 confidenceThis is a Remote Code Execution vulnerability in Microsoft Office Visio that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via specially crafted Visio files. The CVSS 7.8 score indicates low attack complexity with no authentication or user interaction required, making it highly exploitable.
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 dataall versions= 2019= 2021= 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Visio is installedOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\VISIO.EXE -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Path' in PowerShellAffected if Visio is not listed in installed programs or the registry key does not exist - the vulnerability only applies if Visio is present
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Determine installed Visio versionRight-click Visio shortcut > Properties > General tab, or check registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration for Microsoft 365 Apps, or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Visio\InstallRoot for Visio 2016Affected if Version matches affected releases: Visio 2013, Visio 2016, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021, or any Microsoft 365 Apps version containing Visio
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Verify the vulnerable file parsing component existsConfirm the Visio application executable exists at the expected installation path (typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\)Affected if VISIO.EXE or Visio related DLLs are present in the Office installation directory, indicating the vulnerable component is loaded
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Confirm Visio file handling is enabledVisio processes .vsd, .vsdx, and other Visio file formats by default when the application is installed; no additional configuration check needed as the vulnerability triggers upon opening a crafted fileAffected if The user can open Visio files - the vulnerability is in the file parsing logic, so any Visio installation that can open files is potentially exploitable
You are affected if Microsoft Visio or a Microsoft Office suite containing Visio is installed and the version matches 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 LTSC, or any Microsoft 365 Apps version.
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 immediately to address this vulnerability, as it was being actively exploited in the wild as a zero-day.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-38010 — 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-2022-38010 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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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