Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-1716 is a high-severity Microsoft Word remote code execution issue affecting multiple Word, Office, Office web, and SharePoint products. It matters because successful exploitation could compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The evidence provided shows Microsoft published official remediation, but does not show active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority patching item where affected Microsoft document-processing software remains deployed. Absence from KEV lowers emergency urgency, but the potential impact is full system compromise if exploitation succeeds.
Technical view
The CVSS 3.1 vector is 7.8: AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Exploitation is user-assisted, requires no attacker privileges, and affects listed Microsoft Word, Office, Office Online/Web Apps, Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, and SharePoint Server versions. MSRC lists an official fix.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in organizations running affected Office/Word endpoints or on-premises SharePoint, Office Web Apps, or Office Online Server versions that have not received the January 2021 Microsoft security update for CVE-2021-1716.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited active exploitation. CVSS exploit maturity is listed as unproven. User interaction is required, but no privileges are required by the attacker.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to CVE metadata and Microsoft advisory references. The bundle provides affected product families, CVSS, and official-fix status, but no root-cause detail, proof of concept, exploitation-in-the-wild evidence, or workaround text.
Mitigation direction
- Apply Microsoft’s official CVE-2021-1716 security updates for each affected product.
- Inventory Word, Office, SharePoint, Office Web Apps, and Office Online Server installations.
- Prioritize internet-facing or document-processing SharePoint and Office web server deployments.
- Check MSRC guidance for product-specific update packages and supersedence details.
- Reduce exposure to untrusted Office documents until affected systems are patched.
Validation and detection
- Confirm installed Office, Word, SharePoint, and Office web component versions against the affected list.
- Verify the relevant Microsoft security update is installed on each affected host.
- Check endpoint and server patch compliance reports for CVE-2021-1716 coverage.
- Review security telemetry for suspicious Office document handling around vulnerable systems.
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-2021-1716 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
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
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.
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:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C1.85.9Primary 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/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution VulnerabilityCVE reference · vendor-advisory
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2021-1716CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC, x_transferred
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.