Important CVSS 7.8 EPSS 0.03264 📢 Publicly disclosed 2019-11 archive

Executive Summary

A security feature bypass vulnerability exists in Microsoft Office software by not enforcing macro settings on an Excel document. The security feature bypass by itself does not allow arbitrary code execution. To successfully exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would have to embed a control in an Excel worksheet that specifies a macro should be run. To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would have to convince a user to open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Microsoft Office software. The security update addresses the vulnerability by enforcing macro settings on Excel documents.

Overview

7.8
CVSS HIGH
Important
MS Severity
Not Exploited
MS Exploit Status
Less Likely
MS Exploit Likelihood
Category Security Feature Bypass
Released Nov 12 2019
Last Updated Nov 12 2019
Publicly Disclosed Yes
CISA KEV Not Listed
Known Exploits None Known
EPSS Score 0.03264 — 0.87087 percentile
NVD CVSS 7.8 HIGH — differs from MSRC

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
ATTACK VECTOR
Local
ATTACK COMPLEXITY
Low
PRIVILEGES REQUIRED
None
USER INTERACTION
Required
SCOPE
Unchanged

EPSS Score

0.03264
probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
0.87087 percentile - updated 2026-07-25
View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

2 affected products
Product KB Article Severity Impact Restart Required
Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac Release Notes (Security Update) Important Security Feature Bypass No
Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac Release Notes (Security Update) Important Security Feature Bypass No

Patches

1 patch
Article Type Restart
Release Notes Security Update No

Known Exploits

Acknowledgments

None