Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2019-1297 is a Microsoft Excel remote code execution flaw caused by improper memory handling. A user would need to open a malicious Excel-related file or content. CISA lists it in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, so this should be treated as an actively exploited legacy Office risk.
Executive priority
Urgent for environments still running affected Office builds. The issue is remote code execution, has high impact ratings, and is listed by CISA as known exploited.
Technical view
The CVSS 3.1 vector is 8.8, network-adjacent delivery with low complexity, no privileges required, and user interaction required. Successful exploitation can affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Sources identify Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, and Office 365 ProPlus versions across Windows and Mac as affected.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where affected Microsoft Excel, Office, or Office 365 ProPlus versions remain installed, especially older 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Mac, and 32-bit or 64-bit deployments that have not followed MSRC guidance.
Exploitation context
Active exploitation is supported by CISA KEV inclusion. The source bundle does not provide exploit-chain details, observed threat actors, or payload behavior, so those should not be inferred.
Researcher notes
Evidence is strong for affected products, CVSS impact, and active exploitation status via KEV. The provided sources do not include exploit details, specific detection artifacts, or a named patch identifier, so validation should center on version and MSRC advisory status.
Mitigation direction
- Review the Microsoft MSRC advisory for CVE-2019-1297 and apply listed guidance.
- Prioritize remediation under the CISA KEV entry for this CVE.
- Inventory and retire affected Office versions where updates are unavailable.
- Limit handling of untrusted Office documents until remediation is confirmed.
Validation and detection
- Identify installed Excel and Office versions, edition, bitness, and platform.
- Compare inventory against the affected product list in the source bundle.
- Confirm update or remediation status against the MSRC advisory.
- Check vulnerability management records for CISA KEV tracking and closure.
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.
Execution 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-2019-1297 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
- 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
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2019-1297CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2019-1297CVE 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.