CVE-2012-1854 — Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability

Triage

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

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.

Remediation

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

• Documented mitigation — docs.microsoft.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
• Documented mitigation — learn.microsoft.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

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: Apr 27, 2026 — passed 171 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, Microsoft Visual Basic For Applications, Microsoft Visual Basic For Applications Sdk).
2. Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
3. Apply the documented mitigations until a definitive fix is available.
4. Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
5. EPSS ahead of 98% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
6. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (file handling), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Attack characteristics

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

Every base score collected

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

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-426 · Untrusted Search Path

Other CVEs with this weakness →

CISA KEV details CISA

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

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 20.87%

Detection

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

• Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
• Monitor file creation in web directories and paths with traversal sequences (../).
• Hunt retroactively in logs from before Apr 13, 2026 (KEV listing): exploitation may have started earlier.

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, microsoft/visual basic for applications, microsoft/visual basic for applications sdk
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• CVSS changed · 7.8
  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
  Apr 12, 2026 · CISA
• 2012
• CVE published
  Jul 10, 2012 · 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

7 on the record

• learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/SecurityBulletins/2012/ms12-046
  Mitigation, Vendor Advisory, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2012/ms12-046
  Mitigation, Vendor Advisory, vendor-advisory, x_refsource_MS, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA12-192A.html
  US Government Resource, third-party-advisory, x_refsource_CERT, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
  US Government Resource, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-1854
  GitHub Security Advisories
• github.com/advisories/GHSA-77fm-4w36-vpp3
  GitHub Security Advisories
• oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A14950
  Broken Link, vdb-entry, signature, x_refsource_OVAL, NIST National Vulnerability Database

Elsewhere on this site

Related CVEs (same products)

• High CVE-2026-47293 Microsoft Office Click-To-Run Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability Jun 9, 2026
• Medium CVE-2026-42832 Microsoft Office Spoofing Vulnerability May 12, 2026
• High CVE-2026-42831 Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability May 12, 2026
• High CVE-2026-40420 Microsoft Office Click-To-Run Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability May 12, 2026
• High CVE-2026-40419 Microsoft Office Click-To-Run Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability May 12, 2026
• Medium CVE-2026-40421 Microsoft Word Information Disclosure Vulnerability May 12, 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-2012-1854 is "Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability", rated High. It affects Office (Microsoft); versions are in the scope table. It is in CISA KEV: there is evidence of real-world exploitation. CVSS 7.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 20.87% 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.

Comments

Moderated technical discussion. Read the community guidelines.

No comments yet.

Sign in or create an account to comment and suggest corrections.