CVE-2021-1713: 
vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2021-1713) was disclosed on January 12, 2021. This vulnerability affects Microsoft Excel and Office Online Server installations. The vulnerability was initially reported and assigned on December 2, 2020 (CVE Mitre).

The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS score of 7.0 (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P), indicating a moderate severity level. This vulnerability is distinct from CVE-2021-1714 and could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Office file (Rapid7).

If successfully exploited, this vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute remote code on the target system through Microsoft Excel. The attack requires user interaction in the form of opening a specially crafted Office file (Microsoft Support).

Microsoft has released security updates to address this vulnerability. The fixes are available through Microsoft Update and can be obtained via several methods: through Microsoft Update automatic updates, Microsoft Update Catalog, or Microsoft Download Center. For Office Online Server, the security update 4493160 has been released (Microsoft Support).