Security readout for executives and security teams
This is an old but serious Microsoft Excel remote-code-execution flaw. A user opening a malicious Excel file could allow attacker code to run with that user’s privileges. The bundle reports exploitation in the wild in February 2009 and CISA KEV marks it as known exploited. Exposure is most likely on legacy systems running affected Office/Excel components or opening old spreadsheet workflows. Modern supported Office versions are not named in the bundle. Organizations with retained Excel Viewer, Compatibility Pack, or legacy Mac Office should prioritize inventory. Treat as high priority if any legacy Office footprint remains. The business risk is document-borne compromise from ordinary file handling, with confirmed historical exploitation and KEV status. If the organization has fully retired the named products, residual priority is mainly audit confirmation. Mitigation focus: Apply Microsoft MS09-009 security updates where affected products remain installed.; Upgrade or remove unsupported Excel, Excel Viewer, Compatibility Pack, and legacy Mac Office versions.; Restrict opening unsolicited or externally sourced Excel documents on legacy hosts..
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
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ATT&CK lookup starting points
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CWE-94: Code execution behavior lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2009-0238 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- Yes
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CISA KEV status
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H2.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- ms-excel-unspecified-code-execution(48875)CVE reference · vdb-entry, x_refsource_XF
- MS09-009CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_MS
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:5968CVE reference · vdb-entry, signature
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2009-0238CVE reference · government-resource
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.