Product:
Microsoft Office Excel
Summary
Heap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Office Excel allows an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges locally. This vulnerability can lead to significant security risks, including unauthorized access to sensitive data. Attackers can exploit this flaw to gain higher privileges on affected systems.
Details
| Severity | Base Score | CVE |
|---|---|---|
| HIGH | 7.8 | CVE-2026-21259 |
Exploitation
To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must have local access to the affected system and must convince a user to interact with a malicious file or application. Once the user opens the compromised file, the attacker can execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, potentially leading to a complete system compromise.
Affected Products
- Microsoft Office Excel: A widely used spreadsheet application that is vulnerable to heap-based buffer overflow attacks.
Mitigation
To mitigate this vulnerability, users should ensure that they apply the latest security updates from Microsoft. Additionally, users should avoid opening untrusted files or applications and implement strict access controls to limit local access to sensitive systems.