Microsoft Graphics Component Memory Corruption Vulnerability (CVE-2013-3906)
Published In CISA KEV since Sources: CVE.org
What is affected, what to do
GDI+ in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2 and Server 2008 SP2; Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP3, and 2010 SP1 and SP2; Office Compatibility Pack SP3; and Lync 2010, 2010 Attendee, 2013, and Basic 2013 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted TIFF image, as demonstrated by an image in a Word document, and exploited in the wild in October and November 2013.
The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.
- Affected
- Microsoft Lync
eq 2010..2010 - Microsoft Lync
eq 2013..2013 - Microsoft Office
eq 2003..2003 - Microsoft Office
eq 2007..2007 - Microsoft Office
eq 2010..2010 - Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer
eq 2010..2010
- Microsoft Lync
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Metrics
7.8
Priority
XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.
Source: NVD, CVSS v3
7.8
CVSS v3
Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.
Source: CVE.org
84.9 %
EPSS score
High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 99.71
Show all metrics
- Severity
- Critical
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- 218.54 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- actively exploited
XIEM Effective CVSS
XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.
Read in glossary- 7.8 Methodology
CVSS v3
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 7.8
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- 84.9 %
- High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
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- 99.71
- 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- Actively exploited
- Published
In CISA KEV since
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
Response and mitigation
Why act now?
Prioritisation rationale
CVE-2013-3906 is on KEV because Word documents with a crafted embedded TIFF were used in targeted spear-phishing before a patch existed, and later in broader commodity campaigns. Exploitation needs only a user to open a file, with no authentication. It yields full compromise of confidentiality, integrity and availability in the user's context. Exploitation likelihood remains very high, while CISA does not flag known ransomware use. For modern, well-maintained estates the residual risk is low. Any finding of legacy Office or Vista/Server 2008 should be treated as high priority and handled immediately, especially OT-adjacent or engineering systems with mail access, because those hosts typically carry many other unpatched flaws as well.
Runbook step 1
Immediate response (0-24 h)
- Inventory legacy exposure: Query software inventory (SCCM/Intune, Lansweeper, EDR asset data) for Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP3, 2010 SP1/SP2, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Excel Viewer, Lync 2010/2010 Attendee/2013/Basic 2013, and Windows Vista SP2 and Server 2008 SP2. Several of these are out of support, so every hit is a vulnerability-management finding.
- Deploy the vendor update: A patch is available from Microsoft. Look up the exact update in the vendor advisory (Microsoft Security Update Guide entry for CVE-2013-3906). Verify the patched version of
gdiplus.dll(Windows) and of the Office graphics library (ogl.dllin Office 2007/2010) on target hosts rather than trusting WSUS compliance alone. - Isolate unpatchable hosts: Move legacy Office or Vista/2008 machines that cannot be updated into a dedicated segment with no direct mail or internet access. In KRITIS environments these are often engineering workstations, HMI PCs and lab systems.
- Disable the TIFF codec (workaround): Where patching is blocked, push this setting via GPO:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Gdiplus→ DWORDDisableTIFFCodec=1. On 64-bit systems, also set it underHKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Gdiplus. TIFF images will no longer render, so confirm business impact first. Validate the key against the vendor advisory. - Tighten the mail gateway: Quarantine inbound Word documents (
.docx,.doc,.rtf) from external senders that contain embedded TIFFs (word/media/*.tif,*.tiff) or ActiveX parts (word/activeX/*.bin). Observed exploits paired a crafted TIFF with ActiveX-based heap spraying.
Runbook step 2
Mitigation layers
- Network segmentation: Restrict legacy Office hosts to required destinations. Force web egress through an authenticated proxy and block direct outbound TCP 80/443/8080. This cuts off second-stage payload retrieval after successful exploitation.
- Gateway/IPS: Enable signatures for malicious TIFF structures in Office documents (Suricata/Snort ET rules referencing CVE-2013-3906, FILE_OFFICE/FILE_IMAGE categories). Add sandbox detonation for all external Office attachments containing embedded images or ActiveX controls.
- Office hardening via GPO: Enforce Protected View for internet-origin files and Outlook attachments. Set ActiveX in Office documents to "Disable all controls without notification". Use File Block settings to stop legacy binary formats from external sources.
- Endpoint hardening: Where Office 2010 runs on Windows 10/11, enable Defender ASR rules
d4f940ab-401b-4efc-aadc-ad5f3c50688a(block Office child processes) and3b576869-a4ec-4529-8536-b80a7769e899(block Office from creating executable content). Add AppLocker/WDAC rules to deny execution from%TEMP%and%APPDATA%. - Privilege and lifecycle: Run users on legacy hosts without local admin rights so code execution stays in user context. Record retirement of the unsupported Office and Windows versions as a dated risk-treatment action in the ISMS.
Runbook step 3
Detection rules
- EDR/Sysmon EID 1 – process ancestry:
winword.exe,excel.exe,outlook.exeorlync.exespawningcmd.exe,powershell.exe,rundll32.exe,regsvr32.exe,mshta.exeor unknown binaries. KQL:DeviceProcessEvents | where InitiatingProcessFileName in~ ("winword.exe","excel.exe","outlook.exe","lync.exe") and FileName in~ ("cmd.exe","powershell.exe","rundll32.exe","regsvr32.exe","mshta.exe") - Sysmon EID 11 – file creation: An Office process writing
.exe,.dll,.scror.batfiles to%TEMP%,%APPDATA%orC:\Users\Public. Sigma shape:Image|endswith: '\winword.exe'ANDTargetFilename|endswith: ['.exe','.dll','.scr']. - Windows Application log EID 1000/1001:
winword.exeorlync.execrashing with faulting modulegdiplus.dllorogl.dll, which may indicate a failed exploit attempt. SPL:index=wineventlog EventCode=1000 (Faulting_Application="WINWORD.EXE" OR Faulting_Application="lync.exe") (Faulting_Module="gdiplus.dll" OR Faulting_Module="ogl.dll") - Mail/proxy telemetry: OOXML attachments with an unusually high count of
activeX*.binparts (heap-spray pattern) plus an embedded TIFF. Follow-up signal: outbound HTTP from the recipient host to a rarely seen domain within minutes of opening (Zeekhttp.log/conn.log, correlated with mail delivery time). - Registry integrity (Sysmon EID 13): Alert on changes to
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Gdiplus\DisableTIFFCodecto catch rollback of the workaround.
- EDR/Sysmon EID 1 – process ancestry:
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- Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
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- Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
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
GDI+ in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2 and Server 2008 SP2; Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP3, and 2010 SP1 and SP2; Office Compatibility Pack SP3; and Lync 2010, 2010 Attendee, 2013, and Basic 2013 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted TIFF image, as demonstrated by an image in a Word document, and exploited in the wild in October and November 2013.
Source: NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE)
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 | excel_viewer |
|
|
| microsoft | lync |
|
|
| microsoft | office |
|
|
| microsoft | office_compatibility_pack |
|
|
| microsoft | powerpoint_viewer |
|
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| microsoft | word_viewer |
|
|
Vendors and products
- Microsoft Microsoft Excel Viewer
- Microsoft Microsoft Lync Server
- Microsoft Microsoft Office
- Microsoft Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack Service Pack 3
- Microsoft Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer
- Microsoft Microsoft Windows Server 2008
- Microsoft Microsoft Windows Vista Gold on X64
- Microsoft Microsoft Word Viewer
Affected operating systems
| Windows | microsoft | windows_server_2008 | — |
| Windows | microsoft | windows_vista | — |
Public exploit references
Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.
| CISA KEV Catalog | CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.gov | actively exploited | |
| Exploit-DB | EDB-ID 30011 (opens in a new tab)exploit-db.com | PoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified | — |
References & sources
- docs.microsoft.comMS13-096Vendor advisory, x_refsource_MS, Patch, Vendor advisory
- exploit-db.com30011Exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB, Exploit, Third-party advisory, Vulnerability database
- technet.microsoft.comsecurity/advisory/2896666x_refsource_CONFIRM, Patch, Vendor advisory
- blogs.technet.comb/srd/archive/2013/11/05/cve-2013-3906-a-graphics-vulnerability…x_refsource_CONFIRM, Broken link, Exploit
- blogs.mcafee.commcafee-labs/mcafee-labs-detects-zero-day-exploit-targeting-micr…x_refsource_MISC, Broken link, Exploit
- cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2013-3906government-resource, US government resource
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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2013-3906"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2013-3906.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2013-3906 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>