CVE-2025-47164: Code Execution Vulnerability in Microsoft Office via Use After Free Error

Overview

In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, vulnerabilities often emerge that compromise the security of systems, leading to potential data leakage or system compromise. One such vulnerability is the CVE-2025-47164, which affects users of Microsoft Office. This vulnerability allows unauthorized attackers to execute code locally, thereby causing a potential threat to user data. Given the widespread use of Microsoft Office globally, this vulnerability creates a significant risk that needs immediate attention and mitigation.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-47164
Severity: High (8.4/10 on CVSS v3.0 Severity Scale)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Unauthorized code execution leading to potential system compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

Microsoft Office | All versions prior to the vendor patch

How the Exploit Works

The exploit works by taking advantage of the Use After Free vulnerability in Microsoft Office. In essence, a Use After Free condition is a type of memory corruption flaw that can be leveraged by attackers to execute arbitrary code. This vulnerability arises when a program continues to use a pointer after it has been freed, causing an application to behave unpredictably. In this case, an attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user, leading to unauthorized system access or data leakage.

Conceptual Example Code

A conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited is illustrated below:

// A simple C program to demonstrate use after free vulnerability
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main(void)
{
// Allocating memory to p
int* p = malloc(10 * sizeof(int));
// Freeing p
free(p);
// Accessing a memory location after free
printf("%d\n", *(p+2));
return 0;
}

In this example, we are allocating memory to a pointer `p` and then freeing it. However, after freeing `p`, we are again trying to access a memory location associated with it. This is the core of the Use After Free vulnerability, and in the context of Microsoft Office, an attacker could manipulate such a vulnerability to execute arbitrary code.
To protect your system from this vulnerability, apply the vendor patch provided by Microsoft, or use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as a temporary mitigation.