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365 AppsApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2025-54904

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.0.10417.20047 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
Use after free 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 use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code locally by tricking a user into opening a specially crafted malicious Excel file. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management where the program continues to use a memory pointer after it has been freed, potentially enabling code execution in the context of the current user.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates for Excel when released; enforce email gateway filtering to block suspicious Excel attachments; educate users to avoid opening files from untrusted sources.

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
Office Online ServerApplication
Affected:< 16.0.10417.20047

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Microsoft Excel is installed
    Check for Excel.exe in typical installation paths (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\, C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\) or look for Excel in the Windows Start menu
    Affected if Excel application is present on the system
  2. Determine installed Excel version
    Right-click Excel.exe in the installation directory, select Properties, then go to the Details tab to view the File Version; alternatively, open Excel, go to File > Account > About Excel
    Affected if Excel is installed and version can be retrieved
  3. Compare version against affected ranges for desktop Excel
    If version is 2016 or later (15.0.xxxx+), 2019, 2021, 2024, or part of Microsoft 365 Apps, the version falls within the affected range; note the exact version number for对照
    Affected if Installed Excel version is 2016 or newer, or is Microsoft 365 Apps any version, or is Office 2019/2021/2024 any build
  4. Check Office Online Server version if applicable
    If using Office Online Server, check the version via Office Online Server administration or PowerShell (Get-OfficeOnlineServerEngine). The affected version is anything below 16.0.10417.20047
    Affected if Office Online Server version is present and is lower than 16.0.10417.20047
  5. Assess user interaction exposure
    This vulnerability requires a user to open a specially crafted malicious Excel file; evaluate whether users in the environment commonly open Excel attachments from email or external sources
    Affected if Users have the ability to open Excel files from untrusted or unknown sources

A user is affected if they have Microsoft Excel 2016 or newer, Microsoft 365 Apps, Office 2019/2021/2024, or Office Online Server below version 16.0.10417.20047 installed AND can be tricked into opening a malicious Excel file.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 16.0.10417.20047 or later
Fixed in 16.0.10417.20047
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates for Excel when released; enforce email gateway filtering to block suspicious Excel attachments; educate users to avoid opening files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

For Office Online Server, upgrade to version 16.0.10417.20047 or later; for other Office products, apply the CVE‑2025‑54904 security update.

  1. Identify the affected Microsoft Office Excel product and version (e.g., Excel 2016, Office 2019, Office 2021, Office 2024, Office 365, or Office Online Server).
  2. Ensure the system is configured to receive updates via Windows Update, Microsoft Update, or your organization’s update management solution.
  3. Search for the security update that addresses CVE‑2025‑54904 (the Microsoft Office Excel security update).
  4. Download and install the appropriate update (for Office Online Server, upgrade to version 16.0.10417.20047 or later).
  5. Restart Microsoft Excel or restart the computer if prompted.
  6. Verify the update was applied successfully (e.g., check installed updates or the Office version information).
Caveat No known breaking changes; the patch resolves the vulnerability without altering functionality.

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

Fix this in 365 Apps Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2025-54904 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