CVE-2009-0238
Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 28 April 2026). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
Microsoft Office Excel 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, and 2007 SP1; Excel Viewer 2003 Gold and SP3; Excel Viewer; Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP1; and Excel in Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Excel document that triggers an access attempt on an invalid object, as exploited in the wild in February 2009 by Trojan.Mdropper.AC.
- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 43.21% probability · 99th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Listed 14 April 2026 · due 28 April 2026
- Weakness
- CWE-94
- Affected
- microsoft/excel · microsoft/excel viewer · microsoft/office · microsoft/office compatibility pack · microsoft/office excel viewer
- Source
- secure@microsoft.com
CISA notes
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-009 ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-0238
References
- http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2658Broken Link
- http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5923Press/Media Coverage
- http://securitytracker.com/id?1021744Broken Link
- http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/968272.mspxVendor Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/33870Broken Link
- http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-022310-4202-99Broken Link
- http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-104A.htmlUS Government Resource
- http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1023Broken Link
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-009Vendor Advisory
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/48875Third Party Advisory
- https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A5968Broken Link
- http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2658Broken Link
- http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5923Press/Media Coverage
- http://securitytracker.com/id?1021744Broken Link
- http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/968272.mspxVendor Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/33870Broken Link
- http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-022310-4202-99Broken Link
- http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-104A.htmlUS Government Resource
- http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1023Broken Link
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-009Vendor Advisory
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/48875Third Party Advisory
- https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A5968Broken Link
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2009-0238US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.