Oct 2020: Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
CVE-2020-16931 Published on October 16, 2020
Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
<p>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Excel software when the software fails to properly handle objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take control of the affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.</p>
<p>Exploitation of the vulnerability requires that a user open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Microsoft Excel. In an email attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending the specially crafted file to the user and convincing the user to open the file. In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a website (or leverage a compromised website that accepts or hosts user-provided content) containing a specially crafted file designed to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit the website. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to click a link, typically by way of an enticement in an email or instant message, and then convince them to open the specially crafted file.</p>
<p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Microsoft Excel handles objects in memory.</p>
Products Associated with CVE-2020-16931
Want to know whenever a new CVE is published for Microsoft products? stack.watch will email you.
Affected Versions
Microsoft Office 2019:- Version 19.0.0 and below https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases is affected.
- Version 16.0.1 and below publication is affected.
- Version 16.0.1 and below https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases is affected.
- Version 16.0.0.0 and below publication is affected.
- Version 13.0.0.0 and below publication is affected.
- Version 15.0.0.0 and below publication is affected.
- Version 15.0.0.0 and below publication is affected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.