Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2018-0802 is a Microsoft Office Equation Editor flaw that can let attacker-controlled documents run code after user interaction. It affects Office 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. CISA lists it as known exploited, so legacy or unpatched Office endpoints deserve urgent attention.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority because it combines Office document exposure, code execution impact, public PoC references, and CISA known-exploited status. Focus first on legacy Office endpoints and users handling external documents.
Technical view
The vulnerability is a CWE-787 out-of-bounds write in Equation Editor memory object handling, described by Microsoft as an Office memory corruption RCE. CVSS 3.1 is 7.8 with required user interaction and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on endpoints running Microsoft Office 2007, 2010, 2013, or 2016 where users can open untrusted Office documents. Legacy Office installations and unmanaged workstations are the main concern.
Exploitation context
CISA KEV status supports known exploitation. The source bundle also includes public PoC and research references, but it does not provide current campaign details or safe exploitation telemetry.
Researcher notes
Do not conflate this with CVE-2018-0797 or CVE-2018-0812. The bundle identifies Equation Editor, affected Office versions, CWE-787, public research, and KEV status, but not current exploit chains or detailed patch mechanics.
Mitigation direction
- Apply Microsoft guidance for CVE-2018-0802 across affected Office versions.
- Prioritize legacy Office hosts and externally exposed document-handling workflows.
- Remove or upgrade unsupported Office installations where practical.
- Strengthen email and endpoint controls for untrusted Office documents.
- Check Microsoft guidance before relying on compensating controls.
Validation and detection
- Inventory endpoints for Office 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016.
- Confirm Microsoft CVE-2018-0802 remediation status on sampled systems.
- Review EDR and email detections for suspicious Office document activity.
- Check whether Equation Editor exposure remains on managed images.
- Track exceptions for unsupported or offline endpoints.
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-787: 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-2018-0802 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-2018-0802CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/rxwx/CVE-2018-0802CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://0patch.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-bug-that-killed-equation-editor-how.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/zldww2011/CVE-2018-0802_POCCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://research.checkpoint.com/another-office-equation-rce-vulnerability/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-0802CVE 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.
Out-of-bounds Write
Out-of-bounds Write represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.