CVE-2026-97767

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

Double Free in Microsoft Office Excel

Publication date: 2026-10-13

Last updated on: 2026-10-15

Assigner: Microsoft Corporation

Description

Double free in Microsoft Office Excel allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
Percentile:

Meta Information

Published

2026-10-13

Last Modified

2026-10-15

Generated

2026-10-19

AI Q&A

2026-10-14

EPSS Evaluated

2026-10-18

NVD

CVE-2026-97767

EUVD

EUVD-2026-99823

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
microsoft	365_apps	*
microsoft	365_apps	*
microsoft	microsoft_365	*
microsoft	office_2021	*
microsoft	office_2021	*
microsoft	office_2021	*
microsoft	office_2024	*
microsoft	office_2024	*
microsoft	office_2024	*
microsoft	office_online_server	to 16.0.10417.20228 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-415	The product calls free() twice on the same memory address.
CWE-476	The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a double free issue in Microsoft Office Excel. A double free occurs when a program frees the same memory block twice, which can lead to memory corruption and potentially allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code remotely.

Detection Guidance

Detection of this vulnerability requires monitoring for unusual Excel processes or network traffic patterns. Check for unexpected Excel.exe instances or crashes. Use Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to scan for exploitation attempts. Monitor network logs for connections to untrusted sources during Excel usage.

Impact Analysis

An attacker could exploit this to run malicious code on your system if you open a specially crafted Excel file. This could lead to data theft, installation of malware, or unauthorized system access. The impact is high as it requires no authentication and affects network-exposed systems.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized code execution, potentially exposing sensitive data processed by Microsoft Office Excel. This may impact compliance with GDPR (data protection) and HIPAA (healthcare data) by increasing the risk of data breaches or unauthorized access to regulated information.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply the latest security updates from Microsoft for affected Office Excel versions immediately. Disable Excel macros if not required and restrict network access to Office applications.

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