CVE-2022-44691
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 OneNote 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 OneNote. The CVSS 7.8 score indicates it can be exploited with low complexity to achieve code execution on affected systems, likely through malicious OneNote files. The vulnerability stems from how OneNote handles specially crafted files or embedded 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 dataall versions= 2019= 2021CVSS 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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Confirm OneNote installationOpen OneNote (onefile.exe) or check Program Files for Microsoft Office\OneNote folder, or look for OneNote in the Start MenuAffected if OneNote is installed on the system
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Identify OneNote version via registryRun 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration" /v VersionToReport' for Microsoft 365, or 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\InstallRoot" /v Version' for Office 2019/2021Affected if Version matches Microsoft 365 Apps (any version), Office 2019, or Office LTSC 2021
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Identify OneNote version via executableRight-click on OneNote.exe in Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16 (or Office15/17), select Properties, and check the File VersionAffected if Version corresponds to Office 2019 or Office LTSC 2021 (e.g., 16.0.xxxx series)
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Check for security updates appliedOpen Windows Update history or check Microsoft Update Catalog for installed updates with 'OneNote' in the name after December 2022Affected if No security update for CVE-2022-44691 has been installed (December 2022 or later security rollup)
User is affected if OneNote is installed and the version is Microsoft 365 Apps, Office 2019, or Office LTSC 2021 without the December 2022 or later security update 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 for OneNote as they become available. Until patches are released, exercise caution with OneNote files from untrusted sources and consider disabling OneNote file previewing or hyperlink handling in email environments.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-44691 — 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-2022-44691 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