CVE-2025-54900
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 confidenceA heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Microsoft Office Excel that allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code locally. The vulnerability stems from improper memory handling when processing specially crafted Excel files, enabling memory corruption that can lead to code execution.
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= 2024< 16.0.10417.20047CVSS 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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Check if Microsoft Excel is installedOpen Excel, go to File > Account > About Excel, or run 'excel --version' from command line if availableAffected if Excel is not installed on the system (not affected)
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Determine installed Excel version numberIn Excel: File > Account > About Excel. The version number appears in the dialog title (e.g., 16.0.xxxxx.xxxxx). Alternatively, open Command Prompt and run: reg query 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration' /v VersionToReportAffected if Excel version cannot be determined (status unknown)
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Compare against affected Microsoft 365 and standalone Excel versionsIf using Excel 2016 or later, compare your version to: Excel 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024. All these versions are >= 2016 and thus affected before patching. Check File > Account > Product Information to confirm edition (M365 Apps, standalone, etc.)Affected if Running Excel 2016 or later without the CVE-2025-54900 security update installed
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Check Microsoft Office version (if not using standalone Excel)Open any Office app (Word, PowerPoint), go to File > Account > About [App]. Verify Office version >= 2019. Check Product Information for Office LTSC 2021 or 2024 editionsAffected if Running Microsoft Office 2019 or later (desktop suite) without the security update
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Check Microsoft Office Online Server version (if applicable)If hosting Office Online Server, run: Get-OfficeOnlineServerVersion or check HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\WebServer\16.0\Version in RegistryAffected if Office Online Server version is earlier than 16.0.10417.20047
If Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office (with Excel component), or Microsoft Office Online Server is installed and the CVE-2025-54900 security update has not been applied, the environment is affected by this heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability.
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 data16.0.10417.20047
Apply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2025-54900 to all affected Microsoft Office Excel installations. Prioritize endpoints where Excel is used to handle untrusted files.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-54900 — 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-2025-54900 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
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