CVE-2021-42292 — Microsoft Excel Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Executive Summary

None

Overview

7.8

CVSS HIGH

Important

MS Severity

Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Exploitation Detected

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Security Feature Bypass

Released Nov 9 2021

Last Updated Nov 9 2021

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Not Listed

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.31949 — 0.98082 percentile

NVD CVSS 7.8 HIGH — matches MSRC

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

ATTACK VECTOR

Local

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

Low

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

None

USER INTERACTION

Required

SCOPE

Unchanged

CONFIDENTIALITY

High

INTEGRITY

High

AVAILABILITY

High

EXPLOIT CODE MATURITY

Proof-of-Concept

REMEDIATION LEVEL

Official Fix

REPORT CONFIDENCE

Confirmed

Temporal Score: 7.0

EPSS Score

0.31949

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.98082 percentile - updated 2026-06-21

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

13 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 32-bit Systems	`Click to Run (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	No
Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 64-bit Systems	`Click to Run (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	No
Microsoft Excel 2013 RT Service Pack 1 5002072 (Security Update) 5002035 (Security Update) Important Security Feature Bypass 5002043 5002007 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C 15.0.5397.1001 Maybe None Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions) 5002072 (Security Update) 5002035 (Security Update) Important Security Feature Bypass 5002043 5002007 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C 15.0.5397.1001 Maybe None Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions) 5002072 (Security Update) 5002035 (Security Update) Important Security Feature Bypass 5002043 5002007 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C 15.0.5397.1001 Maybe None Microsoft Excel 2016 (32-bit edition) 5002056 (Security Update) 4486670 (Security Update) Important Security Feature Bypass 5002030 4475514 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C 16.0.5239.1001 Maybe None Microsoft Excel 2016 (64-bit edition) 5002056 (Security Update) 4486670 (Security Update) Important Security Feature Bypass 5002030 4475514 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C 16.0.5239.1001 Maybe None Microsoft Office 2013 RT Service Pack 1	`5002035 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions)	`5002035 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions)	`5002035 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2016 (32-bit edition)	`4486670 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2016 (64-bit edition)	`4486670 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Maybe
Microsoft Office 2019 for 32-bit editions	`Click to Run (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	No
Microsoft Office 2019 for 64-bit editions	`Click to Run (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	No
Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac	`Release Notes (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Maybe
Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 for 32-bit editions	`Click to Run (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	No
Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 for 64-bit editions	`Click to Run (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	No
Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021	`Release Notes (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Maybe

Patches

4 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`Click to Run`	Security Update	No
`5002035`	Security Update	Maybe
`4486670`	Security Update	Maybe
`Release Notes`	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

MSTIC

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD