Affects widely-used Microsoft Office; remote code execution via crafted Excel doc; exploited in the wild; high risk.
CVE-2009-0238
Office remote code execution via crafted Excel file.
Is CVE-2009-0238 being exploited?
Yes. CVE-2009-0238 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.
How severe is CVE-2009-0238?
CVE-2009-0238 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2009-0238?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2009-0238. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2009-0238 affect?
CVE-2009-0238 affects Excel 2000 SP3, Excel 2002 SP3, Excel 2003 SP3, Excel 2007 SP1, and 5 further products or versions. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2009-0238?
Apply MS09-009 patch and mitigations
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Remote code execution via crafted Excel document; attacker can run arbitrary code and take control of the system.
Patch when possible