# CVE-2006-5296: Null dereference in n/a

> A crafted PowerPoint file causes a NULL dereference and application crash in Microsoft Office 2003, requiring user interaction to open the file.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **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:** 16 Oct 2006
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4qf8-jx39-2cv9

## What is CVE-2006-5296?

CVE-2006-5296 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Powerpoint, published on 16 Oct 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

PowerPoint in Microsoft Office 2003 does not properly handle a container object whose position value exceeds the record length, which allows user-assisted attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL dereference and application crash) via a crafted PowerPoint (.PPT) file, as demonstrated by Nanika.ppt, and a different vulnerability than CVE-2006-3435, CVE-2006-3876, CVE-2006-3877, and CVE-2006-4694. NOTE: the impact of this issue was originally claimed to be arbitrary code execution, but later analysis demonstrated that this was erroneous.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2006-5296?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Microsoft Powerpoint.

## How do I fix CVE-2006-5296?

No fix has been published for CVE-2006-5296 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2006-5296 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2006-5296 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Microsoft Office 2003 - '.PPT' Local Buffer Overflow (PoC) (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Powerpoint

- [CVE-2010-2572](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2572/): Microsoft PowerPoint Buffer Overflow (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2011-3396](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-3396/): Path traversal in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2011-1270](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-1270/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2011-0976](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-0976/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2010-3141](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3141/): Path traversal in n/a (critical 9.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2006-5296 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2006-5296 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Powerpoint, published on 16 Oct 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-2006-5296 exists.

Affected product: Microsoft Powerpoint. 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-2006-5296/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-5296/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2006-5296
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2006-5296
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2006-5296

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-5296/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.