CVEs / CVE-2016-7262

CVE-2016-7262: Microsoft Office Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Known exploited in the CISA KEV catalog since 3 Mar 2022
high 7.8 CVSS 3.1 (NVD)
EPSS 57.7% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99% of CVEs (30 Oct 2026)
Last changed at its sources 17 Jun 2026

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Summary

A security feature bypass vulnerability exists when Microsoft Office improperly handles input. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could execute arbitrary commands.
CISA, Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

Description

Microsoft Excel 2007 SP3, Excel 2010 SP2, Excel 2013 SP1, Excel 2013 RT SP1, Excel 2016, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, and Excel Viewer allow user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted cell that is mishandled upon a click, aka "Microsoft Office Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability."
The CVE record, via NVD · published 20 Dec 2016 · NVD status: Analyzed

Affected and fixed versions

As stated by the CVE record (from the CNA)
Product	Affected	Fixed in
n/a n/a	n/a	—

Exploitation

In CISA KEV since	3 Mar 2022
Due date for US federal agencies	24 Mar 2022
Used in ransomware campaigns	Unknown
Required action	Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Severity

CVSS 3.1	7.8 high `CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Scored by NVD

References

CVE-2016-7262 on NVD
CVE-2016-7262 in the CISA KEV catalog
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94660 Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037441 Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2016/ms16-148 Patch, Vendor Advisory
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2016-7262 US Government Resource

Sources

Exploitation status from the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. EPSS scores from FIRST. Descriptions, severity and references from the National Vulnerability Database. Open-source package versions from OSV (CC-BY 4.0). Text is shown as each source states it; Stackurity does not edit it. Check the vendor's advisory before acting.

This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.