# CVE-2006-1540: Memory corruption in n/a

> Attackers can execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service in Microsoft Office via crafted documents exploiting memory corruption flaws.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 30 Mar 2006
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-94cj-9f3f-7q8j

## What is CVE-2006-1540?

CVE-2006-1540 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Office, published on 30 Mar 2006. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2006-1540?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Microsoft Office.

## How do I fix CVE-2006-1540?

No fix has been published for CVE-2006-1540 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2006-1540 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2006-1540 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Microsoft Office Products - Array Index Bounds Error (PoC) (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office

- [CVE-2018-0798](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0798/): Microsoft Office Memory Corruption (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-1770](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1770/): Microsoft Office Uninitialized Memory Use (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2006-2492](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-2492/): Microsoft Word Malformed Object Pointer (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-0802](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0802/): Microsoft Office Memory Corruption (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-11882](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-11882/): Microsoft Office Memory Corruption (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2006-1540 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2006-1540 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Office, published on 30 Mar 2006. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2006-1540 exists.

Affected product: Microsoft Office. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-1540/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-1540/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2006-1540
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2006-1540
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2006-1540

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-1540/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.