Vulnerability record

CVE-2012-1854

Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability

Severity: HighExploitation: Exploitation confirmedCISA KEV
What should I do?

This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: attackers are using it. If you run Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), fix it now.

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

US federal civilian agencies must remediate by Apr 27, 2026.

Patch status

No official fix confirmed yet

Until a fix ships, follow the vendor's mitigations and CISA's required action, limit exposure of affected systems, and watch this record for a patch.

Description

Untrusted search path vulnerability in VBE6.dll in Microsoft Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 Gold and SP1; Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA); and Summit Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications SDK allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .docx file, aka "Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability," as exploited in the wild in July 2012.

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database. Official vulnerability data, reproduced as published.

Affected products

Products affected by this vulnerability, with versions and the source of each entry
ProductVendorAffected versionsSource
OfficeMicrosoft2003; 2007; 2010NVD
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)Microsoft—KEV

Sources: NVD = NIST National Vulnerability Database; KEV = CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Intelligence timeline

Developments from the last 30 days, newest first.

  1. CVSS scoredUpdateKEV

    CVE-2012-1854 scored CVSS 7.8: Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability

    CISA lists this as exploited in the wild. Unpatched Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) systems are exposed to active attacks now.

    Basis: NIST National Vulnerability Database

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Coverage

We have not published a story about this vulnerability yet.

References

  • learn.microsoft.com https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2012/ms12-046
  • nvd.nist.gov https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-1854
  • us-cert.gov http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA12-192A.html
  • docs.microsoft.com https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2012/ms12-046
  • oval.cisecurity.org https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A14950
  • learn.microsoft.com https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/SecurityBulletins/2012/ms12-046
  • cisa.gov https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2012-1854