CVE-2015-2468 in Office
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Word 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, Word 2013 SP1, Word 2013 RT SP1, Office for Mac 2011, Office for Mac 2016, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Word Viewer, Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server 2010 SP2 and 2013 SP1, Word Web Apps 2010 SP2, and Office Web Apps Server 2013 SP1 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted document, aka "Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/06/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-2468 represents a critical memory corruption flaw within Microsoft Office applications that affects multiple versions of Word and Office suites across different platforms. This vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and memory management practices within the document parsing mechanisms of these applications. The flaw manifests when applications process specially crafted documents that contain malformed data structures or maliciously constructed elements designed to trigger buffer overflows or heap corruption during document rendering or processing operations.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of document parsing routines that handle various file formats including .doc, .docx, and other Microsoft Office document types. When a user opens or previews a maliciously crafted document, the vulnerable code path is triggered, causing memory corruption that can be leveraged by attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the affected user. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions, and CWE-787, which covers out-of-bounds write operations. The attack vector is particularly insidious because it requires minimal user interaction beyond opening a document, making it susceptible to phishing campaigns and social engineering attacks.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-2468 extends beyond individual system compromise to potentially enable broader network infiltration and lateral movement within enterprise environments. Once an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can establish persistent access, escalate privileges, and potentially deploy additional malware or establish command and control channels. The vulnerability affects a wide range of Microsoft Office products including Word 2007 through 2016, Office for Mac 2011 and 2016, and various SharePoint and Web Apps implementations, creating extensive attack surface across different deployment scenarios. This widespread impact makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where document sharing and collaboration are common practices.
Security professionals should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability. Immediate remediation involves applying Microsoft security patches and updates released through the Microsoft Security Response Center, which address the underlying memory corruption issues in the affected Office applications. Organizations should also deploy email filtering solutions that can identify and block suspicious document attachments, implement strict document handling policies, and consider sandboxing mechanisms for document processing. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving exploitation of vulnerabilities (T1068) and privilege escalation (T1069), while also potentially enabling initial access through social engineering (T1566). Network segmentation and monitoring for unusual document processing activities can help detect exploitation attempts, and regular security awareness training should emphasize the dangers of opening untrusted documents from unknown sources.