CVE Intelligence
CISA KEV High Injection

CVE-2009-0556 — Microsoft Office PowerPoint Code Injection Vulnerability

Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, and 2003 SP3, and PowerPoint in Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a PowerPoint file with an OutlineTextRefAtom containing an an invalid index value that triggers memory corruption, as exploited in the wild in April 2009 by Exploit:Win32/Apptom.gen, aka "Memory Corruption Vulnerability."

Published Apr 3, 2009 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities, NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: microsoft

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

CISA KEV · Jan 7, 2026
How the score was calculated
  • Confirmed exploitation (CISA KEV)+35
  • EPSS 67.3% (30-day exploitation probability)+15
  • Technical severity (high)+6

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Confirmed
CISA KEV, listed Jan 7, 2026
EPSS FIRST
67.31%
ahead of 99% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Microsoft
Office Powerpoint and 1 more
CVSS base
8.8
High · 4 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
Active
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

CISA required action CISA

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 deadline: Jan 28, 2026 — passed 260 day(s) ago

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Microsoft Office Powerpoint, Microsoft Powerpoint).
  2. Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
  3. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
  4. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  5. Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
  6. EPSS ahead of 99% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
  7. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (injection), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Microsoft Office Powerpoint version 2004 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Microsoft Powerpoint version 2000-sp3version 2002-sp3version 2003-sp3 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
8.8 CVSS 3.1 High 2.8 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
8.8 CVSS 3.1 High — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
8.8 CVSS 3.1 High — — CISA-ADP via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
9.3 CVSS 2.0 High 8.6 10.0 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-94 · Code Injection

Other CVEs with this weakness →

CISA KEV details CISA

CISA lists a CVE once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.

Listed
Jan 7, 2026
Federal deadline
Jan 28, 2026
passed 260 day(s) ago
Ransomware use
Unknown

CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a reference date.

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 12, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 3 reading(s) · max 67.31%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Look for parameters with command/query metacharacters and unexpected child processes of the service.
  • Hunt retroactively in logs from before Jan 7, 2026 (KEV listing): exploitation may have started earlier.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSapplication logsendpoint telemetry (EDR)

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Affected products added · microsoft/office powerpoint, microsoft/powerpoint
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 8.8
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Added to CISA KEV (detected)
    Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
  • Added to CISA KEV catalog
    Jan 6, 2026 · CISA
  • 2009
  • CVE published
    Apr 3, 2009 · microsoft

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

21 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Microsoft
every CVE for this vendor
2026-01
what else CISA listed that month
Injection
same class
CWE-94
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-45649 Office for Android Spoofing Vulnerability Jun 9, 2026
  • CVE-2026-44812 Windows Graphics Component Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Jun 9, 2026
  • CVE-2026-44803 Windows Graphics Component Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Jun 9, 2026
  • CVE-2026-41102 Microsoft PowerPoint for Android Spoofing Vulnerability May 12, 2026
  • CVE-2026-32200 Microsoft PowerPoint Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Apr 14, 2026
  • CVE-2026-26133 M365 Copilot Information Disclosure Vulnerability Mar 16, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2009-0556 is "Microsoft Office PowerPoint Code Injection Vulnerability", rated High. It affects Office Powerpoint (Microsoft); versions are in the scope table. It is in CISA KEV: there is evidence of real-world exploitation. CVSS 8.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 67.31% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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