# CVE-2016-0012: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Remote attackers can bypass ASLR protection in Microsoft Office and Visual Basic Runtime, facilitating further exploitation.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 13 Jan 2016
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hcf8-6frx-pchf

## What is CVE-2016-0012?

CVE-2016-0012 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Excel, published on 13 Jan 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Microsoft Office 2007 SP3, Excel 2007 SP3, PowerPoint 2007 SP3, Visio 2007 SP3, Word 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Excel 2010 SP2, PowerPoint 2010 SP2, Visio 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, Office 2013 SP1, Excel 2013 SP1, PowerPoint 2013 SP1, Visio 2013 SP1, Word 2013 SP1, Excel 2013 RT SP1, PowerPoint 2013 RT SP1, Word 2013 RT SP1, Office 2016, Excel 2016, PowerPoint 2016, Visio 2016, Word 2016, and Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime allow remote attackers to bypass the ASLR protection mechanism via unspecified vectors, aka "Microsoft Office ASLR Bypass."

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-0012?

It affects 6 products.


Products: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Visual Basics, Microsoft Word.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-0012?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-0012 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-0012 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-0012 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel

- [CVE-2019-1297](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1297/): Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2009-0238](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-0238/): Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2016-7262](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7262/): Microsoft Office Security Feature Bypass (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2009-3129](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3129/): Microsoft Excel Featheader Record Memory Corruption (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2008-0081](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0081/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-0012 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-0012 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Excel, published on 13 Jan 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-0012 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Microsoft Excel. 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-2016-0012/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-0012/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-0012
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-0012
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-0012

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-0012/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.