Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2017-0261 is a Microsoft Office remote code execution issue triggered when Office mishandles objects in memory. A user must interact with malicious content, but successful exploitation can give an attacker code execution on the affected workstation. CISA lists it in KEV, so treat it as a real-world exploited risk.
Executive priority
High priority. This is an older but known-exploited Office vulnerability with full host impact after user interaction. Leadership should ensure patch status is verified, legacy Office exposure is reduced, and any remaining affected endpoints receive urgent attention.
Technical view
The source bundle identifies a CWE-416 use-after-free in Microsoft Office 2010 SP2, Office 2013 SP1, and Office 2016. CVSS 3.1 is 7.8 with no privileges required and user interaction required. Impact covers confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the affected host.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on endpoints running affected Microsoft Office versions that can open externally supplied documents or embedded content. Organizations with legacy Office installs, incomplete patch coverage, or heavy email attachment workflows should prioritize validation.
Exploitation context
Active exploitation is supported by CISA KEV inclusion. The provided sources do not describe specific campaigns, malware families, exploit chains, or attack volume. User interaction is required according to the CVSS vector, so phishing or document delivery is the most likely context.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports a Microsoft Office memory handling flaw categorized as CWE-416. The source bundle confirms affected product families, CVSS, and KEV status, but does not provide exploit details or named mitigations beyond vendor guidance. Avoid assuming broader Office versions without separate evidence.
Mitigation direction
- Apply Microsoft guidance and security updates from the MSRC advisory.
- Inventory and remediate affected Office 2010 SP2, 2013 SP1, and 2016 installations.
- Remove or isolate systems that cannot be updated promptly.
- Reduce exposure to untrusted Office documents and external attachments.
- Monitor Office child-process and document-opening activity for suspicious behavior.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether affected Office versions exist in endpoint inventory.
- Verify patch status against the MSRC CVE-2017-0261 advisory.
- Review email and endpoint telemetry for suspicious Office document activity.
- Check vulnerability management data for remaining CVE-2017-0261 detections.
- Prioritize any finding because CISA lists the CVE as known exploited.
Public sources used
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
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-416: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
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-2017-0261 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- Yes
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2017-0261CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2017-0261CVE 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.
Use After Free
Use After Free represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.