CVE-2009-0238

Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution

Actively exploited (CISA KEV) High 9.3 CVSS 2.0

Description

Microsoft Office Excel 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, and 2007 SP1; Excel Viewer 2003 Gold and SP3; Excel Viewer; Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP1; and Excel in Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Excel document that triggers an access attempt on an invalid object, as exploited in the wild in February 2009 by Trojan.Mdropper.AC.

Description as published by the source, in English.

Key facts

Published: 2009-02-25
Last modified: 2026-06-16
Assigned by: secure@microsoft.com
CVSS vector: AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Scored by: nvd@nist.gov (NVD Primary)
Probability of exploitation: 43.1 % higher than 99 % of all known vulnerabilities
EPSS, next 30 days, model v2026.06.15
Fix available: Not registered in the sources

Actively exploited

CISA added this vulnerability to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2026-04-14, with a remediation deadline of 2026-04-28 for US federal agencies.

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status
Microsoft	Excel	2000	Affected
Microsoft	Excel	2002	Affected
Microsoft	Excel	2003	Affected
Microsoft	Excel	2007	Affected
Microsoft	Excel Viewer	all versions listed	Affected
Microsoft	Office	2004	Affected
Microsoft	Office	2008	Affected
Microsoft	Office Compatibility Pack	2007	Affected
Microsoft	Office Excel Viewer	all versions listed	Affected
Microsoft	Office Excel Viewer	2003	Affected

Weakness type

CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
The product constructs all or part of a code segment using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the syntax or b…

Attack techniques

Derived through the weakness type: CVE to CWE to CAPEC to ATT&CK. This shows which techniques the weakness class is historically used for. It does not assert that this vulnerability has been exploited that way.

T1027.006: HTML Smuggling stealth
T1027.009: Embedded Payloads stealth
T1564.009: Resource Forking stealth

References

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2658 Broken Link
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5923 Press/Media Coverage
http://securitytracker.com/id?1021744= Broken Link
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/968272.mspx Vendor Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/33870 Broken Link
http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-022310-4202-99 Broken Link
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-104A.html US Government Resource
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1023 Broken Link
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-009 Vendor Advisory
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/48875 Third Party Advisory
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A59… Broken Link
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2658 Broken Link
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5923 Press/Media Coverage
http://securitytracker.com/id?1021744= Broken Link
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/968272.mspx Vendor Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/33870 Broken Link
http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-022310-4202-99 Broken Link
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-104A.html US Government Resource
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1023 Broken Link
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-009 Vendor Advisory

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Courses and events

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Does this affect you?

A vulnerability matters only if you run the product, in an affected version, somewhere an attacker can reach.

Check your asset list Browse all vulnerabilities

Sources and freshness

CVE

What it is: A reference number naming one specific vulnerability, for example CVE-2024-9474.
What it tells you: Which vulnerability we are talking about, and in which product.
What it does NOT tell you: Nothing about how serious it is, whether anyone is exploiting it, or whether it concerns you.
Why it matters: Without a shared number, vendor, authority and tooling cannot discuss the same flaw.
Used with the others: The number is the key. NVD, KEV and EPSS all describe the same CVE.

NVD CWE CISA KEV EPSS

How to read this together

No single value should be used on its own. A high CVSS score does not mean a vulnerability is being exploited, and a low one does not mean it is harmless. The four sources answer four different questions.

CVE names the specific vulnerability.
NVD adds severity and technical detail about it.
CWE describes the type of mistake behind it.
CISA KEV shows that it is already being exploited.
EPSS estimates how likely exploitation is soon.

The order that decides what is urgent

Do you actually have the product?
Is the version you run affected?
Is it listed in CISA KEV?
Does it have a high EPSS score?
Is the system reachable from the internet or from others?
How important is the system to the business?
Are there compensating controls already in place?

The first two questions are not about the vulnerability at all. They are about you, and they remove most of the list before you start.

A short example

Fix this week

CVSS 6,5 (medium)

In CISA KEV: yes
EPSS: 94 per cent
A firewall facing the internet

Can be scheduled

CVSS 9,8 (critical)

In CISA KEV: no
EPSS: 0,04 per cent
A test server with no internet access

Sorted by CVSS alone, the one on the right comes first. It is the more serious flaw in theory. But the one on the left is being used against real organisations right now, and it sits where an attacker can reach it. That is the one to fix first.

The critical one still has to be fixed. It just does not have to be fixed today.

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. CVE and the CVE logo are registered trademarks of The MITRE Corporation; CVE records are used under the CVE Terms of Use. CWE is a trademark of The MITRE Corporation, used per the CWE Terms of Use. KEV data from CISA (CC0). Exploitation probability from EPSS, a FIRST.org project. Open-source package data from OSV and the GitHub Advisory Database (CC-BY 4.0).

Scores and vectors are shown as published by the sources. The ordering of results is Berigo's own editorial assessment, described on the search page, and is not NVD data. An empty result never means a system is safe.