Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

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Summary

CVECVE-2020-0901
StatePUBLISHED
Assignermicrosoft
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2020-05-21 23:15:11 UTC
Updated2026-08-19 17:17:07 UTC
DescriptionA remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Excel software when the software fails to properly handle objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take control of the affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. Exploitation of the vulnerability requires that a user open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Microsoft Excel. In an email attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending the specially crafted file to the user and convincing the user to open the file. In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a website (or leverage a compromised website that accepts or hosts user-provided content) containing a specially crafted file designed to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit the website. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to click a link, typically by way of an enticement in an email or instant message, and then convince them to open the specially crafted file. The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Microsoft Excel handles objects in memory.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 9.8 CRITICAL from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS: 0.115630000 probability, percentile 0.956810000 (date 2026-08-19)

Problem Types: NVD-CWE-noinfo | Remote Code Execution

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary9.8CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
2.0[email protected]Primary7.5AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 Breakdown

Access Vector
Network
Access Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Microsoft 365 Apps - All All All
Application Microsoft Office 2010 sp2 All All
Application Microsoft Office 2013 sp1 All All
Application Microsoft Office 2013 sp1 All All
Application Microsoft Office 2016 All All All
Application Microsoft Office 2016 All All All
Application Microsoft Office 2019 All All All
Application Microsoft Office 2019 All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Microsoft Microsoft 365 Apps For Enterprise affected 16.0.1 https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases custom 32-bit Systems, x64-based Systems
CNA Microsoft Microsoft Excel 2010 Service Pack 2 affected 13.0.0.0 publication custom 32-bit Systems, x64-based Systems
CNA Microsoft Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1 affected 15.0.0.0 publication custom 32-bit Systems, ARM64-based Systems, x64-based Systems
CNA Microsoft Microsoft Excel 2016 affected 16.0.0.0 publication custom 32-bit Systems, x64-based Systems
CNA Microsoft Microsoft Office 2016 For Mac affected 16.0.0 publication custom Not specified
CNA Microsoft Microsoft Office 2019 affected 19.0.0 https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases custom 32-bit Systems, x64-based Systems
CNA Microsoft Microsoft Office 2019 For Mac affected 16.0.0 publication custom Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-0901 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 portal.msrc.microsoft.com Patch, Vendor Advisory
msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2020-0901 [email protected] msrc.microsoft.com
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

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