# CVE-2013-3859: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can escalate privileges by launching Internet Explorer via the Microsoft Pinyin IME toolbar in Office 2010.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 11 Sep 2013
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8xr3-v8m4-mq8p

## What is CVE-2013-3859?

CVE-2013-3859 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Office, published on 11 Sep 2013. 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

Microsoft Pinyin IME 2010, when used in conjunction with Microsoft Office 2010 SP1, does not properly restrict configuration options, which allows local users to gain privileges by starting Internet Explorer from the IME toolbar, aka "Chinese IME Vulnerability."

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-3859?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Microsoft Office, Microsoft Pinyin Ime.

## How do I fix CVE-2013-3859?

No fix has been published for CVE-2013-3859 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2013-3859 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-3859 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## 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-2013-3859 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2013-3859 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Office, published on 11 Sep 2013. 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: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-3859 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2013-3859/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-3859/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-3859
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-3859
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-3859

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-3859/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.