CVE-2009-3129
Microsoft Excel Featheader Record Memory Corruption Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 24 March 2022). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
Microsoft Office Excel 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, and 2007 SP1 and SP2; Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac; Open XML File Format Converter for Mac; Office Excel Viewer 2003 SP3; Office Excel Viewer SP1 and SP2; and Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP1 and SP2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a spreadsheet with a FEATHEADER record containing an invalid cbHdrData size element that affects a pointer offset, aka "Excel Featheader Record Memory Corruption Vulnerability."
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 84.03% probability · 100th percentile
- Public exploits
- 2 in Exploit-DB · verified · first 21 August 2010
- CISA KEV
- Listed 3 March 2022 · due 24 March 2022
- Weakness
- CWE-787
- Affected
- microsoft/excel · microsoft/excel viewer · microsoft/office · microsoft/open xml file format converter
- Source
- secure@microsoft.com
EPSS moved from 84.0% on 24 September 2026 to 84.0% on 30 October 2026. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”.
CISA notes
Apply updates per vendor instructions. https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-3129
Public exploits (2)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
References
- http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2009-11/0080.htmlBroken Link
- http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/display.php?id=832Broken Link
- http://osvdb.org/59860Broken Link
- http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/14706Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/36945Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1023157Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-314A.htmlThird Party Advisory, US Government Resource
- http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-083Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-067Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6521Broken Link
- http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2009-11/0080.htmlBroken Link
- http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/display.php?id=832Broken Link
- http://osvdb.org/59860Broken Link
- http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/14706Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/36945Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1023157Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-314A.htmlThird Party Advisory, US Government Resource
- http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-083Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-067Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6521Broken Link
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2009-3129US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.