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Microsoft

Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability

CVE-2012-1854

What this means

This is rated high severity (7.8 out of 10). It is on the known-exploited catalogue, which means attacks using it have already been seen. Ask IT whether Microsoft Office, Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Sdk are in your estate, and treat that as the priority.

Full vendor description

Untrusted search path vulnerability in VBE6.dll in Microsoft Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 Gold and SP1; Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA); and Summit Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications SDK allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .docx file, aka "Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability," as exploited in the wild in July 2012.

Scoring and exploitation

7.8/ 10
CVSS 3.1 base scoreHigh

Exploitable only with local access without any account, but only if a user takes an action, such as opening a file or link. High impact on confidentiality, integrity and availability.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitability

Longer bar: easier to attack

Attack vectorLocalAV:L
Attack complexityLowAC:L
Privileges requiredNonePR:N
User interactionRequiredUI:R
ScopeUnchangedS:U

Impact

Longer bar: more harm

ConfidentialityHighC:H
IntegrityHighI:H
AvailabilityHighA:H
Elevated attack likelihood (~20.9% in 30 days)Model estimate (): a probability signal, not confirmed exploitation
Exploited in the wild
Yes — confirmed exploitation (US CISA )
Not reported
Listed product
Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)

Weaknesses

NVD-CWE-OtherCWE-426

Affected products ()

  • Microsoft Office
  • Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications
  • Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Sdk
Show the raw CPE strings (9)
  • cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2003:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2007:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2007:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2010:-:*:*:*:*:x64:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2010:-:*:*:*:*:x86:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2010:sp1:*:*:*:*:x64:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2010:sp1:*:*:*:*:x86:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:visual_basic_for_applications:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:visual_basic_for_applications_sdk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References

8 links from the CVE record, grouped by site; the vendor's advisory comes first.

Related feed events

  • Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability

    Type Vulnerability

    Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) contains an insecure library loading vulnerability that could allow for remote code execution. Known-exploited catalogue reports exploitation in the wild.

    Next step: Confirm whether Microsoft Windows Server is in your estate.

    Who's reporting

    1 of 3 perspectives

    Official authority: Official 1Vendor statement missing. no VendorResearcher coverage missing. no Researcher1 signal

    Only official coverage so far. Treat as an early signal.

    Microsoft Windows Server
    CVE-2012-1854