Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A flaw in Microsoft Word can let an unauthorized attacker run code after user interaction. Successful exploitation could compromise sensitive information, alter data, or disrupt an affected system. The supplied record rates it high severity at CVSS 7.8.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority patching and exposure-validation issue. User interaction limits automatic exploitation, but successful compromise carries high business impact. Accelerate remediation for users receiving external documents and systems protecting sensitive data.
Technical view
CVE-2026-45471 is an untrusted pointer dereference vulnerability, classified as CWE-822. The supplied CVSS vector indicates local attack access, low complexity, no required privileges, required user interaction, unchanged scope, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts.
Likely exposure
Assess Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, Office 2019, Office LTSC 2021 and 2024, listed Mac editions, Word 2016, and the listed SharePoint Server releases. The bundle provides version identifiers but not complete affected-range or platform details.
Exploitation context
The bundle marks this CVE as absent from KEV, and no supplied source establishes active exploitation. Exploitation requires user interaction according to the CVSS vector. Public exploit availability and observed attack activity are not established by the provided evidence.
Researcher notes
The record identifies CWE-822 but provides no root-cause depth, affected code path, attack artifact, or detection signature. Product version identifiers alone may not define precise vulnerable build ranges. Use the Microsoft advisory as the authoritative source for applicability and remediation details.
Mitigation direction
- Review Microsoft's CVE advisory for applicable security updates and product-specific instructions.
- Apply supported Microsoft updates according to organizational change-control requirements.
- Prioritize systems handling untrusted Office content or sensitive information.
- Use existing controls to restrict untrusted Office content while updates are pending.
Validation and detection
- Inventory installations of every Microsoft product listed in the affected-product bundle.
- Compare installed builds with Microsoft's current advisory and update guidance.
- Confirm applicable security updates installed successfully across Windows, Mac, and SharePoint estates.
- Review endpoint and document-security telemetry for suspicious Word-related code execution.
- Retest representative systems after remediation without using offensive payloads.
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-822: 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-2026-45471 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.
SSVC decision data
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:C1.85.9microsoftVulnerability 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
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution VulnerabilityCVE reference, microsoft · vendor-advisory, patch
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.
Untrusted Pointer Dereference
Untrusted Pointer Dereference represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.