Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2016-7266


Microsoft Excel 2007 SP3, Excel 2010 SP2, Excel 2013 SP1, Excel 2013 RT SP1, Excel 2016, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Excel Viewer, and Excel 2016 for Mac mishandle a registry check, which allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via crafted embedded content in a document, aka "Microsoft Office Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability."


Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 4 products from microsoft, from microsoft, from microsoft and 1 other, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2016, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.


Published

2016-12-20T06:59:00.497

Last Modified

2025-04-12T10:46:40.837

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.0: 7.8 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

  • Access Vector: NETWORK
  • Access Complexity: MEDIUM
  • Authentication: NONE
  • Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
  • Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
  • Availability Impact: PARTIAL
Exploitability Score

8.6

Impact Score

6.4

Weaknesses
  • Type: Primary
    CWE-20

Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Application microsoft excel 2007 Yes
Application microsoft excel 2010 Yes
Application microsoft excel 2013 Yes
Application microsoft excel 2013 Yes
Application microsoft excel 2016 Yes
Application microsoft excel_for_mac 2016 Yes
Application microsoft excel_viewer * Yes
Application microsoft office_compatibility_pack * Yes

References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For microsoft's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.