CVE-2024-49065 in Office
Summary
by MITRE • 12/12/2024
Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/20/2025
This vulnerability represents a critical remote code execution flaw in Microsoft Office applications that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on targeted systems without user interaction. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user-supplied data within Office's handling of specific file formats, particularly those involving embedded objects or complex document structures. Attackers can craft malicious documents that exploit this weakness when opened by vulnerable Office versions, enabling them to gain full control over the affected system. The flaw typically manifests when Office processes malformed or specially constructed files that contain malicious payloads designed to trigger buffer overflows or other memory corruption conditions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability aligns with common software security weaknesses documented under CWE-121 and CWE-125, which address buffer overflow conditions and out-of-bounds reads respectively. These weaknesses occur when Office applications fail to properly validate input boundaries during file parsing operations, allowing attackers to manipulate memory structures through carefully crafted malicious content. The vulnerability affects multiple Microsoft Office products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, with varying degrees of exploitability depending on the specific application and version affected. Attackers often leverage this vulnerability as an initial access vector in broader attack campaigns, frequently combining it with social engineering techniques to deliver malicious documents via email attachments or compromised websites.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond immediate system compromise, creating persistent security risks that can facilitate lateral movement within networks and enable advanced persistent threat operations. Once successfully exploited, attackers can establish backdoors, escalate privileges, and exfiltrate sensitive data without detection. The vulnerability's remote execution capability means that attackers do not require physical access to target systems, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where Office applications are widely used. Organizations may experience significant business disruption as affected systems become compromised, leading to potential data breaches, regulatory compliance violations, and substantial financial losses. This vulnerability directly maps to several ATT&CK techniques including initial access through spearphishing attachments and execution through legitimate system processes.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patch deployment from Microsoft's security updates, which address the underlying memory corruption issues in Office applications. Organizations must implement comprehensive email filtering solutions to block malicious attachments and suspicious file types that could exploit this vulnerability. Network segmentation and application whitelisting can help reduce the attack surface by limiting which systems can open potentially dangerous file formats. Security monitoring should focus on detecting unusual Office process behaviors, unexpected network connections, and anomalous file access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Regular security awareness training for employees remains crucial in preventing successful social engineering campaigns that leverage this vulnerability, as human factors often represent the weakest link in security defenses. Organizations should also maintain detailed incident response procedures specifically designed to handle remote code execution vulnerabilities, ensuring rapid containment and remediation when compromises occur.