CVE-2011-1277

Microsoft Excel 2002 SP3, Office 2008 for Mac, and Open XML File Format Converter for Mac do not properly validate record information during parsing of Excel…

published June 16, 2011

CVSS
—
EPSS
16%
Percentile
96.9
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

🚨 A crafted Excel spreadsheet can sneakily exploit this vulnerability, bypassing validation checks like a well-disguised intruder! 🔥 Think of it like a restaurant accepting a reservation for a table without verifying who’s coming. In this case, an attacker can present a malicious spreadsheet, and if the system doesn’t check the details, it’s a recipe for disaster! An attacker could execute arbitrary code or even cause a denial of service, leading to memory corruption. This could mean anything from a simple crash to full system compromise, depending on what the attacker chooses to do. Imagine your whole team’s productivity suddenly halted by a single malicious file!

Put simply

Think of it like a restaurant accepting a reservation for a table without verifying who’s coming. In this case, an attacker can present a malicious spreadsheet, and if the system doesn’t check the details, it’s a recipe for disaster! This vulnerability stems from Microsoft Excel 2002 SP3 and Office 2008 for Mac failing to properly validate records during the parsing of Excel files. As a result, attackers can use specially crafted spreadsheets to manipulate memory, leading to execution of arbitrary code or application crashes.

What to do

An attacker could execute arbitrary code or even cause a denial of service, leading to memory corruption. This could mean anything from a simple crash to full system compromise, depending on what the attacker chooses to do. Imagine your whole team’s productivity suddenly halted by a single malicious file! To protect against this, ensure that users are updated to the latest versions of Microsoft Excel and the Office suite. Regularly educate users on the dangers of opening unknown files, especially spreadsheets, and implement software checks to catch and quarantine suspicious files before they can do any damage. You've got this! Stay vigilant, follow these steps, and you’ll keep your systems safe from this sneaky threat! 🛡️

The record
Technical detail
CVSS
Not scored
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.16071 · 96.9th percentile
Published
2011-06-16T20:21Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 16 JUN 20:21Z
    Microsoft Excel 2002 SP3, Office 2008 for Mac, and Open XML File Format Converter for Mac do not properly validate record information during parsing of Excel…
    cvelistv5