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365 AppsApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2025-32704

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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
Buffer over-read 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 buffer over-read vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel allows an unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code locally by enticing a user to open a specially crafted Excel file. The vulnerability results from insufficient bounds checking when parsing certain data structures within Excel documents.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates for Microsoft Office Excel as soon as they become available. Until patches are deployed, exercise caution with Excel files from untrusted sources and consider disabling macros across the organization.

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

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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. Verify Microsoft Excel is installed
    Open PowerShell or Command Prompt and run: Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\EXCEL.EXE' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object -ExpandProperty '(default)'. Alternatively, check Program Files or Program Files (x86) for an Excel folder, or search for excel.exe on the system.
    Affected if Excel is not installed on the system.
  2. Identify installed Excel version number
    Open Excel, go to File > Account > About Excel, or run: winword.exe /? 2>&1 | findstr "Version" (if Office is installed). For MSI-based installs, check: reg query 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration' /v VersionToReport. For MSI: reg query 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\{version}\Common\InstallRoot' /v Version.
    Affected if Unable to determine the installed Excel version.
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    The affected versions are: Microsoft 365 Apps (all versions), Excel 2016, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021, Office LTSC 2024. Match your identified version number against these product releases.
    Affected if The installed version falls within Microsoft 365 Apps (any version), Excel 2016, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021, or Office LTSC 2024.
  4. Confirm file parsing feature is in use
    This vulnerability is triggered when Excel parses specially crafted Excel file data structures. No additional feature enablement is required - the parsing occurs automatically when opening affected file types (.xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb, .xls).
    Affected if Excel can open and parse workbook files.

The system is affected if Microsoft Excel is installed and the installed version falls within Microsoft 365 Apps, Excel 2016, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021, or Office LTSC 2024.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates for Microsoft Office Excel as soon as they become available. Until patches are deployed, exercise caution with Excel files from untrusted sources and consider disabling macros across the organization.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Microsoft Security Update CVE-2025-32704 (check MSRC for specific KB article for your Office product)

  1. Open Microsoft Excel and go to File > Account > Update Options
  2. Select 'Update Now' to download and install the latest security updates
  3. Alternatively, open Windows Update (Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update) and check for updates
  4. Ensure Microsoft Office is updated to the latest available version
  5. For Microsoft 365 subscribers, verify the version is current by checking File > Account and looking for "Version 2504" or later in the update channel
  6. Restart Excel after updates complete
Caveat Standard Office security update with no expected breaking changes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in 365 Apps Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2025-32704 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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