Microsoft · Office
CVE-2009-0238
Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution
What it is
Microsoft Office Excel 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, and 2007 SP1; Excel Viewer 2003 Gold and SP3; Excel Viewer; Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP1; and Excel in Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Excel document that triggers an access attempt on an invalid object, as exploited in the wild in February 2009 by Trojan.Mdropper.AC.
CISA: Microsoft Office Excel contains a remote code execution vulnerability that could allow an attacker to take complete control of an affected system if a user opens a specially crafted Excel file that includes a malformed object.
What to do
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Deadline for US federal agencies: April 28, 2026
- Added to the CISA list
- April 14, 2026
- Published
- February 25, 2009
- Severity
- High 8.8 CVSS 3.1
- Chance of attacks in the next 30 days (EPSS)
- 43% in the top 1.3% of all known vulnerabilities
- Weakness
- CWE-94
- More details
- NVD · CVE.org · CISA
All references (11)
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-009
- http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/968272.mspx
- http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1023
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/48875
- http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-104A.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/33870
- http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-022310-4202-99
- https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A5968
- http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5923
- http://securitytracker.com/id?1021744
- http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2658
More exploited flaws from Microsoft
| Added | Vulnerability | Product | Severity | Attack chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 2026 | Word Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision | Office | High 7.8 | 1.6% |
| Jan 26, 2026 | Security Feature Bypass | Office | High 7.8 | 71% |
| Jan 7, 2026 | PowerPoint Code Injection | Office | High 8.8 | 67% |
| Aug 12, 2025 | Excel Remote Code Execution | Office | High 8.8 | 43% |
| Mar 14, 2023 | Outlook Privilege Escalation | Office | Critical 9.8 | 97% |
| Feb 14, 2023 | Publisher Security Feature Bypass | Office | High 7.3 | 12% |
| Jun 8, 2022 | Object Record Corruption | Office | High 7.8 | 53% |
| Jun 8, 2022 | Buffer Overflow | Office | High 7.8 | 60% |
Sources: Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (CISA, public domain), CVE records (cve.org) and EPSS (FIRST). The chance of attacks is the EPSS estimate that someone will try to exploit the flaw in the next 30 days.