CVE-2025-47167 in Office
Summary
by MITRE • 06/10/2025
Access of resource using incompatible type ('type confusion') in Microsoft Office allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/08/2026
Type confusion vulnerabilities represent a critical class of software flaws that occur when a program uses a resource with an inappropriate data type, creating opportunities for attackers to manipulate memory and execute arbitrary code. In the context of Microsoft Office applications, this specific vulnerability manifests when the software fails to properly validate or enforce type consistency during resource handling operations, particularly within document processing pipelines. The flaw typically arises in scenarios where Office components receive untrusted input through various document formats such as word processing files, spreadsheets, or presentation documents that may contain embedded malicious code or malformed data structures.
The technical mechanism behind this vulnerability involves the exploitation of improper type checking mechanisms within Microsoft Office's internal processing engines. When parsing complex document formats, Office applications may encounter data that appears to match one data type but actually contains information structured as another type. This mismatch allows attackers to craft specially designed documents that, when opened by vulnerable Office versions, trigger unintended code execution paths. The vulnerability often leverages memory corruption techniques where the application incorrectly interprets the contents of memory regions, leading to situations where attacker-controlled data can be interpreted as executable code or used to manipulate program flow.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation scenarios, as it enables attackers to achieve local code execution with the privileges of the user running the vulnerable Office application. This creates a significant attack surface since many users have elevated privileges when working with office documents in corporate environments. Attackers can exploit this through various delivery mechanisms including email attachments, malicious websites, or compromised file shares. The vulnerability's exploitation typically requires social engineering to convince victims to open malicious documents, but once executed, it provides attackers with persistent access to the target system.
Mitigation strategies for this type of vulnerability involve multiple layers of defense as recommended by cybersecurity frameworks and standards such as those outlined in the CWE-479 category for type confusion errors. Microsoft releases regular security updates that address these issues through proper input validation and type checking mechanisms, making it essential for organizations to maintain up-to-date Office installations. Additional protective measures include implementing application whitelisting policies, configuring Office to open documents in protected view mode by default, and deploying email filtering solutions that can detect potentially malicious attachments. Organizations should also consider network segmentation and monitoring solutions that can detect unusual execution patterns or unauthorized code loading activities on endpoints where vulnerable Office applications are installed.
The vulnerability demonstrates the ongoing challenges in software security related to memory safety and type validation, particularly in complex applications like Microsoft Office that must process diverse and untrusted input formats. Security researchers have documented similar issues in other Microsoft products and third-party applications, highlighting the need for comprehensive defensive programming practices and regular security assessments. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under techniques related to privilege escalation and code injection, emphasizing its potential for establishing persistent access and lateral movement within compromised environments. Organizations must implement continuous monitoring and incident response procedures to detect exploitation attempts and maintain robust backup and recovery capabilities to address potential compromise scenarios resulting from such vulnerabilities.