365 AppsApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2025-27751

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-08
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
Use after free in Microsoft Office Excel allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally.

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 use-after-free vulnerability exists in Microsoft Office Excel where the application continues to use a memory pointer after it has been freed. This memory corruption flaw can be exploited by a local attacker to execute arbitrary code, potentially leading to complete system compromise.

MitigationApply the Microsoft security update for Excel when released. Until then, restrict Excel file sources, disable DDE features, and consider using Office Protected View for untrusted files.

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
ExcelApplication
Affected:= 2016
OfficeApplication
Affected:= 2019
Office Long Term Servicing ChannelApplication
Affected:= 2021= 2024
Office Online ServerApplication
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. Confirm Microsoft Excel is installed
    Open Excel and go to File > Account, or check Programs and Features in Control Panel for Microsoft Excel listing
    Affected if Excel is present on the system
  2. Determine Excel version number
    In Excel, click File > Account > About Excel. The version will display as a four-part number (for example, 16.0.xxxxx.xxxx)
    Affected if Version is 2016 or later, or if using Microsoft 365 Apps (any version), or if using Office Online Server (any version)
  3. Check Microsoft Office version via command line
    Run: reg query 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration' /v ProductReleaseIds. Alternatively, open Winword.exe and go to File > Account > About Word to see Office version
    Affected if Office version is 2016 or later, including 2019, 2021, 2024, or Microsoft 365 Apps
  4. Verify Excel component version specifically
    Navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\OfficeXX (where XX is your version number) and right-click excel.exe > Properties > Details to view File Version
    Affected if Excel.exe version exists and is 2016 or later, or falls within any Microsoft 365/Office version range
  5. Identify if running Microsoft Office Online Server
    Check installed programs for Microsoft Office Online Server, or check Services for 'WAC Server' or similar Office Online services
    Affected if Office Online Server is installed (all versions affected)

You are affected if any version of Excel, Office 2016 or later, Microsoft 365 Apps, or Office Online Server is installed, since the affected version ranges span all modern versions.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Microsoft security update for Excel when released. Until then, restrict Excel file sources, disable DDE features, and consider using Office Protected View for untrusted files.

Fix this in 365 Apps Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-27751 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-27751 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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