Microsoft PowerPoint: Memory Corruption (CVE-2011-0656)
Published Sources: CVE.org
What is affected, what to do
Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2, and 2010; Office 2004, 2008, and 2011 for Mac; Open XML File Format Converter for Mac; Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP2; PowerPoint Viewer; PowerPoint Viewer 2007 SP2; and PowerPoint Web App do not properly validate PersistDirectoryEntry records in PowerPoint documents, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a Slide with a malformed record, which triggers an exception and later use of an unspecified method, aka "Persist Directory RCE Vulnerability."
The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below.
- Affected
- Microsoft Office
eq 2004..2004 - Microsoft Office
eq 2008..2008 - Microsoft Office
eq 2011..2011 - Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack Service Pack 3
eq 2007..2007 - Microsoft PowerPoint
eq 2002..2002 - Microsoft PowerPoint
eq 2003..2003 - Microsoft PowerPoint
eq 2007..2007 - Microsoft PowerPoint
eq 2010..2010 - Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer
eq 2007..2007
- Microsoft Office
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Metrics
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Priority
No value is available for this vulnerability.
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CVSS v3
No value is available for this vulnerability.
29.6 %
EPSS score
Elevated — model estimates 10-50% exploitation likelihood.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 98.2
Show all metrics
- Severity
- Not rated
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 77.11 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- no public PoC known
EPSS score
The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.
Read in glossary- 29.6 %
- Elevated — model estimates 10-50% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile
The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.
Read in glossary- 98.2
- Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- —
- Published
Detection rules
No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2, and 2010; Office 2004, 2008, and 2011 for Mac; Open XML File Format Converter for Mac; Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP2; PowerPoint Viewer; PowerPoint Viewer 2007 SP2; and PowerPoint Web App do not properly validate PersistDirectoryEntry records in PowerPoint documents, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a Slide with a malformed record, which triggers an exception and later use of an unspecified method, aka "Persist Directory RCE Vulnerability."
Source: NVD (NIST), cvelistv5
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Affected versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| microsoft | office |
|
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| microsoft | office_compatibility_pack |
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| microsoft | office_powerpoint_viewer |
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| microsoft | open_xml_file_format_converter |
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| microsoft | powerpoint |
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| microsoft | powerpoint_viewer |
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| microsoft | powerpoint_web_app |
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Vendors and products
References & sources
- oval.cisecurity.orgoval:org.mitre.oval:def:11761Vulnerability database, signature, x_refsource_OVAL
- docs.microsoft.comMS11-022Vendor advisory, x_refsource_MS
- us-cert.govTA11-102AThird-party advisory, x_refsource_CERT, US government resource
- securitytracker.com1025340Vulnerability database, x_refsource_SECTRACK
- zerodayinitiative.comadvisories/ZDI-11-125x_refsource_MISC
- securityfocus.com47251Vulnerability database, x_refsource_BID
- vupen.comADV-2011-0941Vulnerability database, x_refsource_VUPEN, Vendor advisory
- osvdb.org71770Vulnerability database, x_refsource_OSVDB
- securityfocus.com20110412 ZDI-11-125: Microsoft Office PowerPoint PersistDirectoryEntry Remote Code Execution VulnerabilityMailing list, x_refsource_BUGTRAQ
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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2011-0656"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2011-0656.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2011-0656 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>