CVE-2012-1886

Microsoft Excel 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 SP1; Excel Viewer; and Office Compatibility Pack SP2 and SP3 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary…

published November 14, 2012

CVSS
—
EPSS
22%
Percentile
97.6
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

⚠️ A crafted spreadsheet could be your worst enemy! This Excel memory corruption vulnerability lets remote attackers execute arbitrary code without breaking a sweat. 😱 Think of it like someone sneaking a fake order into a restaurant's system — the chefs are oblivious, cooking up a storm with potentially disastrous results. 🍽️ If an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they could run malicious code on your system, leading to data breaches, identity theft, or even complete takeover of your environment. It's a serious risk that can turn your trusted tool into a weapon against you!

Put simply

Think of it like someone sneaking a fake order into a restaurant's system — the chefs are oblivious, cooking up a storm with potentially disastrous results. 🍽️ This vulnerability in Microsoft Excel allows for memory corruption, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary code through a specially crafted spreadsheet file. It's like giving someone the ability to manipulate the core functionality of the program without your knowledge!

What to do

If an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they could run malicious code on your system, leading to data breaches, identity theft, or even complete takeover of your environment. It's a serious risk that can turn your trusted tool into a weapon against you! To secure your systems, ensure you are using a supported version of Excel with all the latest patches applied. Additionally, educate users about the risks of opening unknown spreadsheet files. Consider alternatives for file formats from untrusted sources, like converting them to PDFs first! You've got this! Follow these steps and you'll keep your Excel environment safe and sound! 🛡️

The record
Technical detail
CVSS
Not scored
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.21769 · 97.6th percentile
Published
2012-11-14T00:00Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 14 NOV 00:00Z
    Microsoft Excel 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 SP1; Excel Viewer; and Office Compatibility Pack SP2 and SP3 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary…
    cvelistv5