Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2017-0262
CVE-2017-0262
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-06-22
Microsoft Office vulnerability
A remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Office allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems, potentially compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
This vulnerability poses significant risk due to active exploitation in the wild. The remote code execution capability enables attackers to gain unauthorized system access without requiring user interaction beyond opening a malicious Office document.
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
12 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-02-10).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.80734 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
Affected: Microsoft, Office. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
Craft a malicious Office document containing exploit code that triggers the RCE vulnerability when opened by a target user.
Business
Employees opening seemingly legitimate Office files become entry points for system compromise, data theft, or lateral movement within corporate networks.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
Distribute the weaponized document via email, file sharing platforms, or watering hole attacks to reach target organizations.
Business
Widespread infection potential across user base increases incident response costs and operational disruption from containment and remediation efforts.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
Execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Microsoft Office, establishing persistence and command execution capabilities.
Business
Attackers gain foothold for data exfiltration, intellectual property theft, or deployment of secondary malware payloads targeting critical business systems.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05