CVE-2025-47174
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 · uneditedHeap-based buffer overflow 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 confidenceHeap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Office Excel allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally by exploiting how Excel processes malformed data in specially crafted spreadsheet 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 dataall versions= 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 Excel, go to File > Account > About Excel (or File > Help in newer versions). Alternatively, open Command Prompt and run: dir "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\*" or check Programs and Features in Control Panel for Microsoft Office installation.Affected if The installed version is Microsoft 365 Apps (any version), Office LTSC 2021, or Office LTSC 2024 - these are all listed as affected.
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Determine if Protected View is enabledOpen Excel, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Protected View. Verify if options for 'Enable Protected View for files originating from the Internet' and 'Enable Protected View for files in unsafe locations' are checked.Affected if Protected View is disabled (unchecked) for Internet or unsafe location files, meaning Excel may automatically open potentially malicious files without protection.
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Check macro and external content settingsIn Excel, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Macro Settings. Also check Trust Center > External Content settings for data connection and link security.Affected if Macro settings are set to 'Enable all macros' or external content settings allow automatic loading of data connections from untrusted sources.
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Assess user exposure to untrusted filesReview user workflows and email/folder sharing practices. Check if users routinely open Excel attachments from unknown senders or download files from untrusted internet sources.Affected if Users regularly open Excel files from untrusted or unknown sources without verification, which is the attack vector for this vulnerability.
The environment is affected if Excel is installed (Microsoft 365 Apps, LTSC 2021, or LTSC 2024) and users can open untrusted or malformed spreadsheet files without Protected View or other security protections blocking them.
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 relevant Microsoft security update for Excel to patch the vulnerability; in the interim, avoid opening Excel files from untrusted sources and enable Protected View in Office Trust Center settings.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-47174 — 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-2025-47174 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