CVE-2013-3855 in Office
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Word 2003 SP3 and 2007 SP3, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, and Word Viewer allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted Office document, aka "Word Memory Corruption Vulnerability."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/24/2021
The CVE-2013-3855 vulnerability represents a critical memory corruption flaw in Microsoft Word applications that affects versions 2003 SP3, 2007 SP3, the Office Compatibility Pack SP3, and Word Viewer. This vulnerability falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions that can lead to memory corruption and arbitrary code execution. The flaw specifically manifests when these applications process malformed Office documents, creating a dangerous attack surface that adversaries can exploit to gain unauthorized system access or disrupt service availability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the document parsing mechanisms of Microsoft Word. When processing specially crafted Office documents, the application fails to properly validate the structure and content of embedded elements, leading to buffer overflows or memory corruption conditions. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the memory management level, where attackers can manipulate memory layout to execute malicious code with the privileges of the targeted user. The vulnerability can be exploited through various document formats including doc, dot, and rtf files, making it particularly widespread in enterprise environments where document sharing is common.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-3855 extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios to encompass full system compromise capabilities. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code on targeted systems, potentially leading to complete system takeover, data exfiltration, or deployment of additional malware. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers do not need physical access to target systems, enabling large-scale attacks through email attachments or malicious web content. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203, which covers legitimate user privileges to execute malicious code, and T1059, covering command and scripting interpreters that could be used to establish persistence after initial compromise.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability face significant security risks that require immediate attention and remediation. The attack vector typically involves social engineering campaigns where users unknowingly open malicious documents, making user education crucial alongside technical fixes. Microsoft addressed this vulnerability through security updates that included improved input validation and memory management routines. Security professionals should implement layered defense strategies including email filtering, application whitelisting, and regular patch management to mitigate the risk. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of principle of least privilege enforcement and network segmentation to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts.