Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-40359

High

Published: 12 May 2026

Published
12 May 2026
Modified
19 May 2026
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0006 19.5th percentile
Risk Priority 16 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2026-40359 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Microsoft Office Long Term Servicing Channel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 19.5th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Use after free in Microsoft Office Excel allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
Why these techniques?

Use-after-free in client app (Excel) directly enables arbitrary code execution via crafted document, mapping to Exploitation for Client Execution.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-24081Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2025-21362Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2025-24082Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2026-20950Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2025-21386Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2026-26107Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2025-24080Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2025-53740Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2026-20952Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps
CVE-2025-53731Same product: Microsoft 365 Apps

Affected Assets

microsoft
365 apps
all versions
microsoft
excel
2016
microsoft
office
2019
microsoft
office long term servicing channel
2021, 2024
microsoft
office online server
≤ 16.0.10417.20128

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.

addresses: CWE-416

Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.

References