Microsoft Office Click-To-Run Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Published October 13, 2026Updated October 13, 2026
Source data
Overview
Time-of-check time-of-use (toctou) race condition in Microsoft Office Click-To-Run allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Impact & technical details
Elevation of Privilege
According to the CVSS metric, the attack vector is local (AV:L). How could an attacker exploit this elevation of privilege vulnerability? An attacker could exploit this elevation of privilege vulnerability by first establishing a foothold on the local system such as opening a malicious document or gaining access through another local vector and then leveraging the flaw to break out of the Protected View sandbox. Protected View is intended to isolate untrusted content in a restricted environment; however, successful exploitation would allow the attacker to escape these restrictions and execute code with elevated privileges on the host system.
According to the CVSS metric, the attack complexity is high (AC:H). What does that mean for this vulnerability? Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to win a race condition.
What privileges could be gained by an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability? An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain SYSTEM privileges.
- CVSS base score
- 7.0 / 10
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Highest base score supplied by MSRC for this record; the vector belongs to that score. Ratings can vary by product. Microsoft Important is displayed as High; Moderate is displayed as Medium.
Affected products
- Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 32-bit Systems
- Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise for 64-bit Systems
Source guidance
Remediation
- Click to Run
Patch availability is not confirmed by this dataset. Consult the vendor before selecting a remediation.
GTP recommendation · Rule-based guidance
Recommended next step
Review affected Microsoft products and apply the applicable security updates through your organization's normal patch-management process. Confirm availability and prerequisites in the Microsoft advisory.
Authoritative sources & updates
Findings and update information come from the linked publishers. GTP compiles the public record and provides the recommendation above. CVSS ratings shown here come from Microsoft. NVD references provide additional public context.
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Griffin Technology Partners managed customers may receive additional environment-specific security guidance and remediation assistance through their managed services relationship.
Security bulletins are provided for informational purposes and compiled from authoritative public sources. Vulnerability applicability varies by environment. Validate affected products, configuration, compatibility requirements, and vendor guidance before making production changes.