CVE-2009-0556

Microsoft Office: PowerPoint Code Injection

As of , CVE-2009-0556 in Microsoft Office is on CISA's list of exploited vulnerabilities: CISA listed it on . Our patch-first group: Patch this week.

Exploited
Yes: CISA listed it on 7 January 2026
US federal deadline
28 January 202621 days after CISA listed it. US federal civilian agencies must fix it by then.
Used in ransomware campaigns
Not known to CISA
EPSS score
0.67Higher than 99% of the CVEs EPSS scores. EPSS estimates the chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.
Public exploit
None foundNeither Metasploit nor Exploit-DB lists one.
Fix
Vendor advice: learn.microsoft.comLinks below, from CISA's entry.

What CISA says to do

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

CISA's required action

What the flaw is

Microsoft Office PowerPoint contains a code injection vulnerability that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a PowerPoint file with an OutlineTextRefAtom containing an invalid index value that triggers memory corruption.

CISA's description

Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, and 2003 SP3, and PowerPoint in Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a PowerPoint file with an OutlineTextRefAtom containing an an invalid index value that triggers memory corruption, as exploited in the wild in April 2009 by Exploit:Win32/Apptom.gen, aka "Memory Corruption Vulnerability."

The CVE record's description, from microsoft

CVE published
3 April 2009
Assigned by
microsoft
CVSS
8.8 High (CVSS 3.1, from CISA-ADP)
CWE-94
Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
CISA SSVC, exploitation
active
CISA SSVC, automatable
no
CISA SSVC, technical impact
total

Timeline

  1. The CVE record was published.
  2. CISA added it to its list of exploited vulnerabilities.
  3. The US federal deadline to fix it.

Office: other exploited entries

VulnerabilityProductOur groupListedDeadlineEPSS
CVE-2010-3333Stack-based Buffer OverflowMicrosoft OfficePatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.89; verified Exploit-DB entry0.89
CVE-2016-3235OLE DLL Side LoadingMicrosoft OfficePatch this weekMetasploit module; verified Exploit-DB entry0.43
CVE-2017-11882Memory CorruptionMicrosoft OfficePatch this weekRansomware use; Metasploit module; EPSS 0.990.99
CVE-2026-21509Security Feature BypassMicrosoft OfficePatch this weekEPSS 0.710.71
CVE-2023-23397Outlook Privilege EscalationMicrosoft OfficePatch this weekEPSS 0.970.97
CVE-2009-0563Buffer OverflowMicrosoft OfficePatch this weekEPSS 0.630.63
CVE-2013-1331Buffer OverflowMicrosoft OfficePatch this weekEPSS 0.800.80
CVE-2012-1856MSCOMCTL.OCX Remote Code ExecutionMicrosoft OfficePatch this weekEPSS 0.720.72
CVE-2015-2545Malformed EPS FileMicrosoft OfficePatch this weekEPSS 0.860.86
CVE-2016-7193Memory CorruptionMicrosoft OfficePatch this weekEPSS 0.580.58

All 29 entries for Office

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