Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-33152 is a Microsoft ActiveX remote code execution vulnerability affecting several Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 Apps versions. Successful exploitation could let attacker-controlled code run with severe confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact, but the CVSS vector indicates high complexity and required user interaction.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority endpoint patching issue, especially for organizations with broad Office use or frequent inbound document handling. The business urgency is reduced by high attack complexity and no supplied evidence of active exploitation, but impact is severe if exploited.
Technical view
Microsoft describes this as an ActiveX remote code execution issue affecting Office 2013 SP1, Office 2016, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021, and Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise. The CVE maps to CWE-122 and has CVSS 3.1 score 7.0: AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on endpoints running the listed Microsoft Office or Microsoft 365 Apps versions. The source bundle does not identify affected operating systems, delivery mechanisms, or specific vulnerable components beyond ActiveX and Office-family products.
Exploitation context
The CVE is not listed as CISA KEV in the supplied bundle, and the provided sources do not state active exploitation. User interaction is required, attack complexity is high, and privileges are not required according to the CVSS vector.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE metadata, CVSS vector, CWE-122, affected Microsoft products, and MSRC advisory reference. Do not infer exploit availability, exact attack path, indicators, or non-Microsoft affected products from this bundle.
Mitigation direction
- Review the Microsoft MSRC advisory for the official update guidance.
- Prioritize updating listed Office and Microsoft 365 Apps deployments.
- Identify unsupported or unmanaged Office installations for remediation.
- Reduce user exposure to untrusted Office content until updates are verified.
Validation and detection
- Inventory endpoints for the affected Office products and versions listed.
- Confirm installed Office builds align with Microsoft guidance for CVE-2023-33152.
- Track exceptions for systems that cannot be updated promptly.
- Check security tooling for suspicious Office or ActiveX-related activity.
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-122: 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-2023-33152 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 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C15.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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 ActiveX Remote Code Execution VulnerabilityCVE reference · vendor-advisory
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.
Heap-based Buffer Overflow
Heap-based Buffer Overflow represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.