CVE-2009-0557
Microsoft Office 2000 … xp
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2009-0557 is a high-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Microsoft Office. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
Microsoft Excel and related components across multiple versions of Microsoft Office, including Office 2000 SP3 through 2007 SP2, Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac, the Open XML File Format Converter for Mac, Excel Viewer 2003 SP3, Excel Viewer, and the Office Compatibility Pack SP1 and SP2, contain an object record corruption vulnerability. The flaw, tracked as CWE-94, is triggered when the application processes a specially crafted Excel file containing a malformed record object, which can lead to arbitrary code execution on the affected system.
An attacker can exploit the issue by supplying a malicious Excel document that a user opens locally, either directly or through an email attachment or web download. Successful exploitation grants the attacker the ability to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user, potentially resulting in full control over confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system.
Public advisories referenced in the CVE entry, such as the US-CERT Technical Alert TA09-160A and vendor bulletins from SecurityFocus, SecurityTracker, and VUPen, direct administrators to apply the corresponding Microsoft security updates for the listed Office products and viewers.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2009-0561
Vulnerability Data
Excel in Microsoft Office 2000 SP3, Office XP SP3, Office 2003 SP3, and Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac; Excel in 2007 Microsoft Office System SP1 and SP2; Open XML File Format Converter for Mac; Microsoft Office Excel Viewer 2003…
more
SP3; Microsoft Office Excel Viewer; and Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP1 and SP2 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Excel file with a malformed record object, aka "Object Record Corruption Vulnerability."
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 08 June 2022
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.3.1
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Makes persistent code injection into loaded programs impossible when the executable image itself resides on hardware-protected read-only media.
Dynamically generated code can be produced and executed inside the isolated chamber, preventing host compromise from code-injection payloads.
Validates inputs used in dynamic code generation to block injected directives.
Directly prevents execution of attacker-supplied code written into data memory regions.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).
PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.