{"id":62242,"date":"2025-08-08T12:26:30","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T12:26:30","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-08-30T08:31:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T14:31:33","slug":"cve-2025-47174-heap-based-buffer-overflow-in-microsoft-office-excel-leading-to-unauthorized-code-execution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-47174-heap-based-buffer-overflow-in-microsoft-office-excel-leading-to-unauthorized-code-execution\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2025-47174: Heap-Based Buffer Overflow in Microsoft Office Excel Leading to Unauthorized Code Execution<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving with new threats emerging on a regular basis. One such threat that has come to light recently is the CVE-2025-47174 vulnerability. This vulnerability is a heap-based buffer overflow<\/a> in Microsoft Office Excel. This vulnerability is of significant concern as it allows<\/a> an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally. It affects any individual or organization that utilizes Microsoft Office<\/a> Excel, emphasizing the importance of taking prompt action to address this security risk.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2025-47174
\nSeverity: High (CVSS 7.8)
\nAttack Vector: Local
\nPrivileges Required: None
\nUser Interaction: Required
\nImpact: Potential system compromise<\/a> or data leakage<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

Microsoft Office<\/a> Excel | All versions prior to patch<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

This exploit takes advantage of a heap-based buffer overflow<\/a> in Microsoft Office Excel. A buffer overflow<\/a> occurs when a program or process attempts to write more data to a fixed-length block of memory, or buffer, than it can hold. In this case, the overflow is happening in the heap, a region of a computer’s memory space that is used for dynamic<\/a> memory allocation. An attacker can manipulate this vulnerability to execute arbitrary<\/a> code on the system running the vulnerable software.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

While we do not provide actual exploit code, the following conceptual example illustrates how an attacker might use a crafted Excel spreadsheet to exploit<\/a> this vulnerability:<\/p>\n

# Hypothetical Python-based exploit\nimport malicious_module\ndef create_exploit():\nbuffer = \"A\" * 5000  # Overflow the buffer\nmalicious_code = malicious_module.generate_code()  # Generate malicious code\nspreadsheet = open(\"exploit.xls\", \"w\")\nspreadsheet.write(buffer + malicious_code)\nspreadsheet.close()\ncreate_exploit()<\/code><\/pre>\n
In this conceptual example, the attacker creates an Excel spreadsheet with a large amount of data (“A” * 5000) to overflow the buffer<\/a>. They then append malicious code to this overflowed buffer<\/a> and save it within an Excel file (`exploit.xls`). When this file is opened in a vulnerable version<\/a> of Excel, the overflow occurs, executing the malicious code.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview The cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving with new threats emerging on a regular basis. One such threat that has come to light recently is the CVE-2025-47174 vulnerability. This vulnerability is a heap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Office Excel. This vulnerability is of significant concern as it allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[82],"product":[],"attack_vector":[86],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-62242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-microsoft","attack_vector-buffer-overflow"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t