CVE-2023-36896: Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 1.0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-08-08 · updated 2026-08-10
Weakness: CWE-122

Description

Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Affected products

Microsoft 365 Apps: all versions
Microsoft Office: 2013-sp1, 2013_rt-sp1, 2016, 2019
Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021: 2021
Microsoft Office Online Server: all versions
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 15.0.0.0 before 15.0.5579.1001 — fixed in 15.0.5579.1001
Microsoft Excel 2016: from 16.0.0.0 before 16.0.5408.1002 — fixed in 16.0.5408.1002
Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac: from 16.0.0 before 16.76.23081101 — fixed in 16.76.23081101
Microsoft Office LTSC 2021: from 16.0.1 before https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases — fixed in https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases
Microsoft Office: from 19.0.0 before https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases — fixed in https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases
Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021: from 16.0.1 before 16.76.23081101 — fixed in 16.76.23081101
Microsoft Office Online Server: from 16.0.1 before 16.0.10401.20022 — fixed in 16.0.10401.20022

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Microsoft 365 Apps https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases; Microsoft Excel 2013 Service Pack 1 15.0.5579.1001; Microsoft Excel 2016 16.0.5408.1002; Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac 16.76.23081101; Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases; Microsoft Office https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases; Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021 16.76.23081101; Microsoft Office Online Server 16.0.10401.20022. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

Get alerted when CVE-2023-36896 or the next vulnerability affects your stack