Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2026-21514
CVE-2026-21514
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-06-22
Microsoft Office vulnerability
Microsoft Office Word contains a vulnerability where untrusted inputs influence security decisions, allowing an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
An authenticated user can exploit improper validation of security-critical inputs in Word to gain elevated privileges on the affected system. The vulnerability has been observed in active exploitation.
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
6 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 2026-02-10).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.01517 — 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.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-807 CWE-807.CWE assignment from the public NVD record; the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
WeaknessCWE-807 · CWE-807
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
I craft a malicious document or input that Word processes without proper validation of security-relevant data.
Business
An insider or compromised user account gains local privilege escalation, expanding their access to sensitive systems and data.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I leverage the elevated privileges to access restricted files, modify system configurations, or move laterally within the network.
Business
Attackers can exfiltrate confidential information, install persistent malware, or compromise additional systems and users.
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