What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities
CVE-2020-1497: Microsoft Excel Information Disclosure Vulnerability
- Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
- Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
- EPSS: 4.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
- Public exploit or detection template: none known
- Published: 2020-08-17 · updated 2026-06-17
Description
An information disclosure vulnerability exists when Microsoft Excel improperly discloses the contents of its memory. An attacker who exploited the vulnerability could use the information to compromise the user’s computer or data. To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker could craft a special document file and then convince the user to open it. An attacker must know the memory address location where the object was created. The update addresses the vulnerability by changing the way certain Excel functions handle objects in memory.
Affected products
- Microsoft 365 Apps: all versions
- Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1: 2010-sp2, 2013-sp1, 2016
- Microsoft Office: 2010-sp2, 2013-sp1, 2016, 2019
- Microsoft 365 Apps: from 16.0.1 before https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases — fixed in https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases
- Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1: from 13.0.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
- Microsoft Excel 2016: from 16.0.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
- Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1: from 15.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
- Microsoft Office: from 19.0.0 before https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases — fixed in https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases
How to fix
Upgrade to a fixed version: Microsoft 365 Apps https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases; Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1 publication; Microsoft Excel 2016 publication; Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 publication; Microsoft Office https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.
References
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-1497
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-1497
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