Cloud Vulnerability DB
A community-led vulnerabilities database
Vulnerability DatabaseCVE-2021-40486
CVE-2021-40486:
vulnerability analysis and mitigation
Overview
Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2021-40486) is a security flaw discovered in Microsoft Office products. The vulnerability was disclosed on October 12, 2021, affecting various versions of Microsoft Office, including Office 2019, SharePoint Server 2019, and Microsoft Office Web Apps Server (NVD).
Technical details
The vulnerability exists within the parsing of DOC files and results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object, leading to a use-after-free condition. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 HIGH (Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) (ZDI Advisory, NVD).
Impact
If successfully exploited, this vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current process. The attack requires user interaction, where the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file (ZDI Advisory).
Mitigation and workarounds
Microsoft has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Users and administrators should apply the appropriate patches through Microsoft's standard update channels (ZDI Advisory).
Additional resources
Source: This report was generated using AI
Free Vulnerability Assessment
Benchmark your Cloud Security Posture
Evaluate your cloud security practices across 9 security domains to benchmark your risk level and identify gaps in your defenses.
Additional Wiz resources
Get a personalized demo
Ready to see Wiz in action?
"Best User Experience I have ever seen, provides full visibility to cloud workloads."
David EstlickCISO
"Wiz provides a single pane of glass to see what is going on in our cloud environments."
Adam FletcherChief Security Officer
"We know that if Wiz identifies something as critical, it actually is."
Greg PoniatowskiHead of Threat and Vulnerability Management