CVE-2020-1497 — Microsoft Excel Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Executive Summary

An information disclosure vulnerability exists when Microsoft Excel improperly discloses the contents of its memory. An attacker who exploited the vulnerability could use the information to compromise the user’s computer or data. To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker could craft a special document file and then convince the user to open it. An attacker must know the memory address location where the object was created. The update addresses the vulnerability by changing the way certain Excel functions handle objects in memory.

Overview

5.5

CVSS MEDIUM

Important

MS Severity

Not Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Less Likely

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Information Disclosure

Released Aug 11 2020

Last Updated Aug 11 2020

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Not Listed

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.04639 — 0.9053 percentile

NVD CVSS 5.5 MEDIUM — differs from MSRC

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

ATTACK VECTOR

Local

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

Low

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

None

USER INTERACTION

Required

SCOPE

Unchanged

EPSS Score

0.04639

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.9053 percentile - updated 2026-06-21

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

18 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 32-bit Systems	`Click to Run (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	No
Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 64-bit Systems	`Click to Run (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	No
Microsoft Excel 2010 Service Pack 2 (32-bit editions)	`4484461 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Excel 2010 Service Pack 2 (64-bit editions)	`4484461 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Excel 2013 RT Service Pack 1	`4484449 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions)	`4484449 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions)	`4484449 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Excel 2016 (32-bit edition)	`4484465 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Excel 2016 (64-bit edition)	`4484465 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (32-bit editions)	`4484375 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (64-bit editions)	`4484375 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2013 RT Service Pack 1	`4484354 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions)	`4484354 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions)	`4484354 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2016 (32-bit edition)	`4484346 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2016 (64-bit edition)	`4484346 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2019 for 32-bit editions	`Click to Run (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	No
Microsoft Office 2019 for 64-bit editions	`Click to Run (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	No

Patches

7 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`Click to Run`	Security Update	No
`4484461`	Security Update	Maybe
`4484449`	Security Update	Maybe
`4484465`	Security Update	Maybe
`4484375`	Security Update	Maybe
`4484354`	Security Update	Maybe
`4484346`	Security Update	Maybe

Known Exploits

No known exploits have been linked for this CVE yet. When available, exploit references will be sourced from public repositories and may be unverified, incomplete, or non-functional. Always review code carefully before use in any environment.

Acknowledgments

Jinquan(@jq0904) of DBAPPSecurity Lieying Lab

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD