CVE-2009-0238
Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution - [Actively Exploited]
Description
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.
INFO
Published Date :
Feb. 25, 2009, 4:30 p.m.
Last Modified :
April 22, 2026, 4:42 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
[email protected]
CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)
For the benefit of the cybersecurity community and network defenders—and to help every organization better manage vulnerabilities and keep pace with threat activity—CISA maintains the authoritative source of vulnerabilities that have been exploited in the wild.
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.
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Unknown
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-009 ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-0238
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2009-0238
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 2.0 | HIGH | [email protected] | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 |
Solution
- Apply the appropriate patch for your version of Microsoft Office and related components.
- For Mac users, install the updates for Office 2004 and Office 2008.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2009-0238.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2009-0238 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2009-0238
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2009-0238 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
-
The Hacker News
ThreatsDay Bulletin: Defender 0-Day, SonicWall Brute-Force, 17-Year-Old Excel RCE and 15 More Stories
You know that feeling when you open your feed on a Thursday morning and it's just... a lot? Yeah. This week delivered. We've got hackers getting creative in ways that are almost impressive if you igno ... Read more
-
The Register
Ancient Excel bug comes out of retirement for active attacks
While Microsoft was rolling out its bumper Patch Tuesday updates this week, US cybersecurity agency CISA was readying an alert about a 17-year-old critical Excel flaw now under exploit. CISA confirmed ... Read more
-
Daily CyberSecurity
Active SharePoint Spoofing and Legacy Office RCE: CISA Alerts on New KEV Exploits
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has expanded its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog, sounding a fresh warning about two high-risk security flaws currently being ... Read more
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2009-0238 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
Modified Analysis by [email protected]
Apr. 22, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Changed CPE Configuration OR *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2008:*:mac:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel_viewer:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_excel_viewer:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_excel_viewer:2003:gold:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_compatibility_pack:2007:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2004:*:mac:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_excel_viewer:2003:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_excel:2003:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_excel:2000:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_excel:2002:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_excel:2007:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:* OR *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel_viewer:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2007:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_excel_viewer:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2000:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_compatibility_pack:2007:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_excel_viewer:2003:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2002:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2003:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2008:*:*:*:*:macos:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2004:*:*:*:*:macos:*:* Added Reference Type Microsoft Corporation: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2658 Types: Broken Link Added Reference Type Microsoft Corporation: http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5923 Types: Press/Media Coverage Added Reference Type Microsoft Corporation: http://securitytracker.com/id?1021744 Types: Broken Link Added Reference Type Microsoft Corporation: http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/33870 Types: Broken Link Added Reference Type Microsoft Corporation: http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-022310-4202-99 Types: Broken Link Added Reference Type Microsoft Corporation: http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1023 Types: Broken Link Added Reference Type Microsoft Corporation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-009 Types: Vendor Advisory Added Reference Type Microsoft Corporation: https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/48875 Types: Third Party Advisory Added Reference Type Microsoft Corporation: https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A5968 Types: Broken Link Added Reference Type CISA-ADP: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2009-0238 Types: US Government Resource Added Reference Type CVE: https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A5968 Types: Broken Link Added Reference Type CVE: https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/48875 Types: Third Party Advisory Added Reference Type CVE: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-009 Types: Vendor Advisory Added Reference Type CVE: http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1023 Types: Broken Link Added Reference Type CVE: http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-022310-4202-99 Types: Broken Link Added Reference Type CVE: http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/33870 Types: Broken Link Added Reference Type CVE: http://securitytracker.com/id?1021744 Types: Broken Link Added Reference Type CVE: http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5923 Types: Press/Media Coverage Added Reference Type CVE: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2658 Types: Broken Link -
CVE Modified by 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Apr. 14, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Added CWE CWE-94 Added Reference https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2009-0238 -
CVE Modified by af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
Nov. 21, 2024
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Reference http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=2658 Added Reference http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5923 Added Reference http://securitytracker.com/id?1021744 Added Reference http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/968272.mspx Added Reference http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/33870 Added Reference http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-022310-4202-99 Added Reference http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-104A.html Added Reference http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1023 Added Reference https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-009 Added Reference https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/48875 Added Reference https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A5968 -
CVE Modified by [email protected]
May. 14, 2024
Action Type Old Value New Value -
CVE Modified by [email protected]
Oct. 12, 2018
Action Type Old Value New Value Removed Reference http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-009.mspx [No Types Assigned] Added Reference https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2009/ms09-009 [No Types Assigned] -
CVE Modified by [email protected]
Sep. 29, 2017
Action Type Old Value New Value Removed Reference http://oval.mitre.org/repository/data/getDef?id=oval:org.mitre.oval:def:5968 [No Types Assigned] Added Reference https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A5968 [No Types Assigned] -
CVE Modified by [email protected]
Aug. 08, 2017
Action Type Old Value New Value Removed Reference http://xforce.iss.net/xforce/xfdb/48875 [No Types Assigned] Added Reference https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/48875 [No Types Assigned] -
Initial Analysis by [email protected]
Feb. 25, 2009
Action Type Old Value New Value