Vulnerability Snapshot
CVE-2009-0238 is rated HIGH — exploitation is straightforward for a motivated attacker and impact is significant. Apply the vendor patch within your standard high-severity SLA.
This vulnerability appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been observed in active attacks. Federal agencies have a remediation deadline; commercial defenders should treat it with equivalent urgency.
Affected technology: excel, excel_viewer, office, office_compatibility_pack, office_excel, plus 1 other product variants.
Executive Summary
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.
Why It Matters
CVE-2009-0238 is rated HIGH severity, requiring immediate attention from security teams.
⚠️ This vulnerability is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, indicating it has been actively exploited in the wild. Federal agencies must remediate by the deadline.
CVSS Base Score: 8.8/10
Affected Technologies
Vendors: microsoft
Products: excel, excel_viewer, office, office_compatibility_pack, office_excel, office_excel_viewer
🛡️What Defenders Should Check
Use Vulnios to continuously monitor your exposure to CVE-2009-0238 and similar vulnerabilities.
References & Sources
How Vulnios Detects This
Vulnios scans for this vulnerability using KEV cross-check that flags any host where this CVE is already on CISA's exploited list. Run a scan against your environment to see whether you are exposed; findings are linked back to the original CVE record so triage starts with the patch path already known.
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Affected Products
Sources
Related Threat Alerts
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2016-7277 — microsoft — office
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2016-7182 — microsoft — live_meeting, lync
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2016-3312 — microsoft — windows_10
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2016-3236 — microsoft — windows_10, windows_7
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2016-3227 — microsoft — windows_server_2012
- Critical Vulnerability: CVE-2016-0088 — microsoft — windows_10, windows_8.1
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2009-0238?
CVE-2009-0238 is a high-severity vulnerability tracked under the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures program. 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
Am I affected?
Check whether your environment runs excel, excel_viewer, office, office_compatibility_pack, office_excel. If you operate any of those, treat yourself as in scope until you have evidence otherwise. A Vulnios scan will identify the exact assets carrying the affected version.
How urgent is the response?
High: address inside your standard high-severity SLA (typically 7 days for internet-exposed assets, 30 days for internal). Skip ahead in the queue if the host is internet-facing.
How do I remediate?
Apply the vendor patch listed in the upstream advisory linked under Sources. If the patch is not yet available, follow the vendor-supplied workaround (often a config flag or feature disable) and add detections for the published exploit pattern in your SIEM. Re-scan after the patch lands to confirm the finding clears.
Where can I track exploitation activity?
Watch CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog for CVE-2009-0238. Cross-reference with public exploit databases and your own SIEM/IDS for indicator-of-compromise patterns. Vulnios tracks KEV status automatically and surfaces it on the asset findings view.
How does Vulnios help with this?
Vulnios continuously cross-references your asset inventory against the live CVE feed (NVD, vendor advisories, CISA KEV, and curated OSINT). When a new CVE matches your environment, you get a prioritized finding with the severity, KEV status, exploit-prediction (EPSS), and a direct path to the vendor patch. You can start a free scan from the homepage.
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