CVE-2025-53784
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 Word 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 exists in Microsoft Office Word where memory is accessed after being freed, potentially allowing an unauthorized local attacker to execute arbitrary code. This type of memory corruption vulnerability can overwrite function pointers or manipulate heap metadata to gain code execution flow control.
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
- 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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Verify Microsoft Word is installedOpen Command Prompt or PowerShell and run: where winword.exe or check C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office*\winword.exe exists. Alternatively, check registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Word\InstallRoot for InstallPath value.Affected if winword.exe is not found on the system - the vulnerability does not apply.
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Obtain the installed Word versionRun winword /? from Command Prompt or use PowerShell: (Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).VersionToReport. Also check HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\*\Common\InstallRoot for version subkeys.Affected if Unable to determine version - cannot confirm vulnerability status.
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Identify the Office channel typeCheck registry HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration for ProductReleaseIds value. For traditional installer, check HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\*\Common\InstallRoot for evidence of LTSC (Long Term Servicing Channel) versus Microsoft 365 subscription.Affected if LTSC version 2021 or 2024 is confirmed - falls within affected range.
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Confirm Microsoft 365 Apps installationIf using Microsoft 365 subscription (subscription channel), verify by checking HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration contains 'O365' or 'Microsoft365' in the ProductReleaseIds value, or via Control Panel Programs and Features showing 'Microsoft 365'.Affected if Any Microsoft 365 Apps version is installed - falls within 'all versions' affected range per CVE.
User is affected if Microsoft Word is installed AND the version is either Microsoft 365 Apps (any version) OR Office LTSC version 2021 OR Office LTSC version 2024.
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 available Microsoft security patches for Office Word when released; until then, exercise caution with Word documents from untrusted sources and consider deploying application sandboxing or email gateway filtering for suspicious attachments.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,160.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-53784 — 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-2025-53784 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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- 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