Cyber Resilience

CVE-2018-0802

Memory Safety in Microsoft Office 2007 … 2016

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCMemory Safety
Published
10 January 2018
Modified
28 October 2025
KEV Added
03 November 2021
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 0.87 99.7th percentile
Risk Priority 83 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2018-0802 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Microsoft Office. 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 0.3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The vulnerability CVE-2018-0802 is a memory corruption flaw in the Equation Editor component of Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Office 2013, and Microsoft Office 2016. It arises from the way objects are handled in memory and is tracked as CWE-787, an out-of-bounds write condition. The issue is distinct from the related flaws CVE-2018-0797 and CVE-2018-0812.

An unauthenticated attacker can exploit the weakness by supplying a malicious document that triggers the flaw when opened, requiring local access and user interaction but no privileges. Successful exploitation yields arbitrary code execution with full impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Public references include security tracking entries and proof-of-concept implementations that demonstrate the memory handling issue in affected Equation Editor versions.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Equation Editor in Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Office 2013, and Microsoft Office 2016 allow a remote code execution vulnerability due to the way objects are handled in memory, aka "Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability". This CVE is…

more

unique from CVE-2018-0797 and CVE-2018-0812.

CWE(s)
CWE-787
KEV Date Added
03 November 2021

Related Threats

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 →
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
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-2018-0798Same product: Microsoft Officeboth on KEV
CVE-2015-2424Same product: Microsoft Officeboth on KEV
CVE-2015-1641Same product: Microsoft Officeboth on KEV
CVE-2014-1761Same product: Microsoft Officeboth on KEV
CVE-2009-0563Same product: Microsoft Officeboth on KEV
CVE-2015-1642Same product: Microsoft Officeboth on KEV
CVE-2012-2539Same product: Microsoft Office Compatibility Packboth on KEV
CVE-2010-3333Same product: Microsoft Officeboth on KEV
CVE-2009-3129Same product: Microsoft Officeboth on KEV
CVE-2012-1889Same product: Microsoft Officeboth on KEV

Affected Assets

microsoft
office
2007, 2010, 2013, 2016
microsoft
office compatibility pack
all versions
microsoft
word
2007, 2010, 2013, 2016

Mitigating Controls

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.

SI-16 Memory Protection
addresses: CWE-787

Out-of-bounds writes that corrupt control flow or inject shellcode are rendered non-executable by the same memory protections.

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 (static analysis, bounds checking, code review) are the primary means of preventing out-of-bounds writes.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching or replacing vulnerable software directly eliminates known instances of this coding weakness.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect and prevent out-of-bounds write defects.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that prevent out-of-bounds writes.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory handling.

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

Secure architecture and engineering principles reduce the likelihood of buffer overflows.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding directly addresses out-of-bounds writes through language choice and coding standards.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

References