CVE-2024-49069
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 Excel 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 Excel that allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code by tricking a user into opening a specially crafted Excel file. The CVSS 7.8 score indicates the vulnerability yields high-impact code execution with relatively low attack complexity, likely requiring user interaction (opening a malicious file).
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= 2016= 2019= 2021= 2024CVSS 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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Identify installed Excel versionOpen Microsoft Excel, go to File > Account > About Excel, or check Programs and Features for Microsoft Office/Microsoft 365 to see the installed versionAffected if Version is 2016 or later but lacks the security update for CVE-2024-49069
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Check Windows Update history for Excel patchesOpen Windows Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View update history, look for recent security updates for Microsoft Excel listed in the update logAffected if No recent security update addressing CVE-2024-49069 has been installed
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Verify file blocking policy statusCheck Group Policy Editor at Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Office 2016 > Security Settings, or examine Office Trust Center settings for file blocking optionsAffected if File blocking is disabled and Excel is configured to open files without restriction
User is affected if running Microsoft Excel version 2016 or later (including Microsoft 365 Apps) without the CVE-2024-49049069 security update installed and without file blocking policies enabled.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply Microsoft security updates for Microsoft Excel as soon as they become available through the regular patch cycle, or implement workarounds such as restricting Excel from opening files from untrusted sources and using Office file blocking policies.
Install latest Microsoft 365/Office updates or apply KB5020882 (or subsequent security updates for the affected versions)
- Open any Microsoft Office application (e.g., Excel)
- Go to File > Account > Update Options
- Select 'Update Now' to check for and install the latest Microsoft updates
- Alternatively, check Windows Update (Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update) for Office security updates
- For enterprise environments, verify patches are deployed via WSUS, SCCM, or Intune
- Restart the application after updates are installed
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $2,848.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-49069 — 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-2024-49069 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