CVE-2023-51598
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 · uneditedHancom Office Word DOC File Parsing Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Hancom Office Word. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of DOC files. The issue results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-20384.
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 confidenceA use-after-free vulnerability exists in Hancom Office Word's DOC file parsing logic. The flaw stems from the lack of validating an object's existence before performing operations on it, allowing an attacker to trigger the vulnerability by crafting a malicious DOC file. When the freed memory is accessed, arbitrary code execution occurs in the context of the current process.
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= 11.0.0.6914CVSS 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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Verify Hancom Office Word is installedCheck for Hancom Office Word installation in typical locations such as Program Files or via system inventory tools (e.g., running 'Get-ItemProperty' on HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* for installed software)Affected if Hancom Office Word appears in the list of installed applications
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Determine installed Hancom Office Word versionLocate the Hancom Office Word executable (typically HOffice11.exe or similar in the installation directory) and retrieve its file version property, or use the program's About/Help menu if accessibleAffected if The exact version number cannot be determined or the software is not found
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Compare installed version against affected versionCompare the retrieved version number to the affected version 11.0.0.6914Affected if Installed version equals 11.0.0.6914 exactly (note: the = symbol indicates this specific version is affected, not a range)
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Assess exposure to DOC file processingDetermine if the system user processes DOC files using Hancom Office Word, or check recent file associations for .doc files pointing to Hancom OfficeAffected if Hancom Office Word is configured as the default handler for DOC files or is frequently used to open DOC documents
A system is affected if Hancom Office Word version 11.0.0.6914 is installed and users open DOC files with it.
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 the vendor-supplied patch from Hancom when available. Until then, avoid opening DOC files from untrusted sources and consider deploying endpoint protection that can detect malicious Office documents.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-51598 — 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-2023-51598 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
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