CVE-2025-47162: High-Risk Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in Microsoft Office

Overview

The cybersecurity landscape is continually evolving, with new vulnerabilities being discovered and exploited. One such vulnerability is CVE-2025-47162, a serious heap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Office that threatens the data security and system integrity of countless users worldwide. This vulnerability, if successfully exploited, could allow an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally on the system, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage.
The importance of understanding and addressing this vulnerability cannot be overstated. Given the widespread use of Microsoft Office across businesses and personal computer systems, millions could be at risk of a data breach or system compromise. Therefore, it is imperative for all users and system administrators to be aware of this vulnerability and to take the necessary steps to mitigate it.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-47162
Severity: High (8.4 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Impact: System compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

Microsoft Office | All Versions Prior to Patch Release

How the Exploit Works

The vulnerability is a heap-based buffer overflow occurring in Microsoft Office. This type of vulnerability happens when a program writes more data to a block of memory (heap) than it should, which can cause the program to overwrite adjacent memory areas. In this case, an attacker can manipulate this flaw by creating a maliciously crafted file that, upon opening, allows the attacker to overflow the buffer, leading to arbitrary code execution.

Conceptual Example Code

Here’s a simplified, conceptual example of how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability. The attacker would craft a file with an embedded malicious payload designed to overflow the buffer when opened. The code might look something like this:

#!/bin/bash
# A script to create a malicious Office file
echo "Creating malicious payload..."
payload=$(python -c 'print "A"*5000')  # An oversimplified payload that would overflow the buffer
echo "Embedding payload into Office file..."
echo $payload > malicious.docx
echo "Done. The malicious Office file has been created."

This is a simplified example for illustrative purposes only and does not represent a real-world exploit, which would be more complex and require specific knowledge of the software’s internals. The example also doesn’t account for other security measures that might be in place on the target system.