CVE-2019-0541
RCE in Microsoft Office 2010 … 2019
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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-2019-0541 is a high-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Microsoft Office. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 1% 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.
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the MSHTML engine due to improper input validation, tracked as CVE-2019-0541 with CWE-77. It affects Microsoft Office, Office 365 ProPlus, Microsoft Office Word Viewer, Microsoft Excel Viewer, Internet Explorer 9, Internet Explorer 10, and Internet Explorer 11. The issue carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8 reflecting network attack vector, low complexity, no required privileges, and required user interaction, with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
An attacker can exploit the flaw by delivering specially crafted content over the network that triggers the vulnerable MSHTML engine in a user's browser or Office application. Successful exploitation allows remote code execution in the context of the current user, enabling arbitrary code to run, data to be accessed or modified, and system availability to be disrupted.
Microsoft has published an advisory at portal.msrc.microsoft.com detailing the issue and available updates. Public exploit code for the vulnerability has been posted to Exploit-DB, indicating that proof-of-concept attacks are readily accessible to potential adversaries.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2019-1313
Vulnerability Data
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that the MSHTML engine inproperly validates input, aka "MSHTML Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability." This affects Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Word Viewer, Internet Explorer 9, Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Excel Viewer,…
more
Internet Explorer 10, Office 365 ProPlus.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 03 November 2021
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
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.8.25 mandates secure SDLC practices including secure coding guidelines, security requirements, checkpoints, testing (scans/penetration), and developer training that reduce command injection defects, but leaves a minority slice (e.g. incomplete implementation of those practices, outsourced development without full assurance, or post-SDLC changes) where the weakness can still arise and be exploitable.
Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.
A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (e.g. distrust external input, secure session control, data validation/sanitization, least privilege) and design reviews that can stop command injection from being introduced, but this is only a minority slice of CWE-77 because the weakness can still arise in code that bypasses those principles, in non-reviewed components, or in runtime injection vectors the architecture review does not reach.
Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.
Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.
Hardening callouts derived
DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.
- No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-77, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.