CVE-2006-1540

What it is

MSO.DLL in Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP (2002), and Office 2003 allows user-assisted attackers to cause a denial of service and execute arbitrary code via multiple attack vectors, as originally demonstrated using a crafted document record with a malformed string, as demonstrated by replacing a certain "01 00 00 00" byte sequence with an "FF FF FF FF" byte sequence, possibly causing an invalid array index, in (1) an Excel .xls document, which triggers an access violation in ole32.dll; (2) an Excel .xlw document, which triggers an access violation in excel.exe; (3) a Word document, which triggers an access violation in mso.dll in winword.exe; and (4) a PowerPoint document, which triggers an access violation in powerpnt.txt. NOTE: after the initial disclosure, this issue was demonstrated by triggering an integer overflow using an inconsistent size for a Unicode "Sheet Name" string.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network without logging in. High risk of data exposure, data tampering, service disruption.

Exploit odds

28.6% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS). Higher than most.

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2006-03-30 00:00 UTC ReservedThe CVE id was reserved by its CNA
2. 2006-03-30 11:02 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
3. 2026-06-16 22:23 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 28.6% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 9.3 HIGH (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2006-03-30 11:02 UTC

Last modified

2026-06-16 22:23 UTC

Exploit probability

28.6% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-94 · Code injection

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft Office 2000
• Microsoft Office 2003
• Microsoft Office 2004
• Microsoft Office v.x
• Microsoft Office Xp

Attack profile CVSS 2.0 · 9.3

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Medium

Authentication

None

Confidentiality

Complete

Integrity

Complete

Availability

Complete

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2006-1540.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2006-1540. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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