CVE-2025-53731
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 · uneditedUse after free in Microsoft Office 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 confidenceA use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Office allows an attacker to execute code locally by accessing memory after it has been freed, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution with the current user's privileges.
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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Office versionOpen any Office app (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), go to File > Account > About [App] or run 'winword --version' from command promptAffected if Version matches 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, or any Microsoft 365 Apps version (all are affected)
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Check if running Microsoft 365 subscription versionIn any Office app, go to File > Account; look for 'Microsoft 365' under product information or run 'cscript //Nologo "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office16\OSPP.VBS" /dstatus'Affected if Office is a Microsoft 365 subscription version (all Microsoft 365 Apps versions are affected)
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Verify Office installation channelRun 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration" /v Platform' and check the ProductReleaseIDs value in registryAffected if Installation shows as Current, Monthly, or Semi-Annual channel for Microsoft 365 Apps (all channels affected)
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Confirm Office process availabilityOpen Task Manager and check for running processes like WINWORD.EXE, EXCEL.EXE, or OUTLOOK.EXEAffected if Office applications are actively running (the use-after-free occurs during object handling in memory)
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Check for recent Office security updatesOpen Windows Update History or run 'wmic qfe list' and search for recent Office security patches installed in 2025Affected if No 2025 security updates for Office have been installed (indicating unpatched state)
Your environment is affected if any version of Microsoft 365 Apps, Office 2016, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021, or Office LTSC 2024 is installed and running.
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 Microsoft security updates for Office when released; minimize local user privileges to limit impact; monitor for suspicious Office processes.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-53731 — 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-2025-53731 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