365 AppsApplication · Microsoft

CVE-2026-55025

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.0.10417.20175 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges 5 weeks old

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
Access of resource using incompatible type ('type confusion') in Microsoft Office Excel allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally.

In the news

Third-party coverage
Trending covered by 1 outlet this week · latest 1mo ago

Surfaced from public web coverage — external links open in a new tab.

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 type confusion vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code locally by exploiting how the application handles resources with incompatible types. This memory corruption issue can be triggered through a specially crafted Excel file, potentially giving the attacker the same privileges as the local user.

MitigationApply the appropriate Microsoft security update for the affected Excel versions as soon as practical, and restrict opening of untrusted Excel files from unknown sources until the patch is deployed.

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
Microsoft 365Application
Affected:all versions
Office 2019Application
Affected:all versions
Office 2021Application
Affected:all versions
Office 2024Application
Affected:all versions
Office Online ServerApplication
Affected:< 16.0.10417.20175

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 Excel is installed
    Open Excel, go to File > Account > About Excel, or run 'winword --version' or check Programs and Features for Microsoft Excel
    Affected if Excel is not installed, the vulnerability does not apply
  2. Determine installed Excel version
    In Excel: File > Account > About Excel. On Windows: open Excel, press Alt+F11 for VBA, ?-Version in immediate window, or check registry HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Excel\InstallRoot
    Affected if Version falls within affected ranges (Excel 2016+, Office 2019/2021/2024, Microsoft 365 Apps, or Office Online Server < 16.0.10417.20175)
  3. Confirm file handling capability
    Verify Excel can open and process .xlsx files - the vulnerability is triggered when opening a specially crafted Excel file, so ensure the application is functional and not in a blocked/disabled state
    Affected if Excel is fully functional and can open files, meaning the attack surface exists

If Microsoft Excel is installed and running any version from 2016 onward, or any Microsoft 365/Office 2019/2021/2024 version, or Office Online Server versions below 16.0.10417.20175, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 16.0.10417.20175 or later
Fixed in 16.0.10417.20175
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate Microsoft security update for the affected Excel versions as soon as practical, and restrict opening of untrusted Excel files from unknown sources until the patch is deployed.

Fix this in 365 Apps Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,900
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,040.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-55025 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-55025 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