Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-21741

Memory Safety in Microsoft Visio 2013 … 2016

Memory Safety
Published
10 January 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
CVSS Score v3.1 7.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.018 76th percentile
Risk Priority 61 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-21741 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Microsoft Visio. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 24% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV 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.

CVE-2023-21741 is an information disclosure vulnerability in Microsoft Office Visio stemming from an out-of-bounds read condition (CWE-125). It carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.1 reflecting network attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, and no user interaction, resulting in high confidentiality impact together with limited availability consequences.

An authenticated attacker positioned on the network can send a specially crafted Visio file or session to the affected application and obtain sensitive information from memory without any user interaction, while also inducing a partial denial-of-service condition.

The official Microsoft Security Response Center advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2023-21741 supplies patch guidance and should be consulted for remediation steps. Exploitation probability remains low, with an EPSS score of 0.0644 that has shown no material increase since disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Microsoft Office Visio Information Disclosure Vulnerability

CWE(s)
CWE-125NVD-CWE-noinfo

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-2023-33162Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2024-49028Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2025-21383Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2026-20946Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2026-40360Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2025-32705Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2023-32029Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2026-21261Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2023-36766Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2024-49065Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps

Affected Assets

microsoft
365 apps
all versions
microsoft
office
2019
microsoft
office long term servicing channel
2021
microsoft
visio
2013, 2016

Mitigating Controls

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 such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.

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 includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.

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

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.

References