Cyber Resilience

CVE-2010-2572

Memory Safety in Microsoft Powerpoint 2002 … 2003

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedMemory Safety
Published
10 November 2010
Modified
22 April 2026
KEV Added
08 June 2022
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.63 99.1th percentile
Risk Priority 83 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2010-2572 is a high-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Microsoft Powerpoint. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 0.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Buffer overflow in Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 SP3 and 2003 SP3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted PowerPoint 95 document, aka "PowerPoint Parsing Buffer Overflow Vulnerability."

CWE(s)
CWE-120
KEV Date Added
08 June 2022

Related Threats

Threat-Actor AttributionAI

Scarlet Mimic (G0029)
Scarlet Mimic: Years-Long Espionage Campaign Targets Minority Activists

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2006-2492Same vendor: Microsoftboth on KEV
CVE-2013-1331Same vendor: Microsoftboth on KEV
CVE-2017-7269Same vendor: Microsoftboth on KEV
CVE-2004-0210Same vendor: Microsoftboth on KEV
CVE-2016-0099Same vendor: Microsoftboth on KEV
CVE-2009-0556Same product: Microsoft Powerpointboth on KEV
CVE-2015-2424Same product: Microsoft Powerpointboth on KEV
CVE-2020-17087Same vendor: Microsoftboth on KEV
CVE-2010-0249Same vendor: Microsoftboth on KEV
CVE-2023-21674Same vendor: Microsoftboth on KEV

Affected Assets

microsoft
powerpoint
2002, 2003

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.1

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.

SC-27 Platform-independent Applications
addresses: CWE-120

Platform-independent managed code eliminates the need for unchecked native buffer copies that are the root cause of classic buffer overflows.

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 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices directly enforce bounds checking and input validation that prevent classic buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes such as code review or scanning detect classic buffer overflows before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing unchecked buffer copies with corrected versions.

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.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure coding directly requires bounds-checked memory operations, addressing the root cause of CWE-120.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect buffer overflows through fuzzing and static analysis, though it does not prevent them at the source.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates processes that can include input validation and bounds checking to prevent buffer overflows.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify input-size validation and safe buffer handling to mitigate classic buffer overflows.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles promote defensive coding patterns that reduce the likelihood of unchecked buffer copies.

References