CVE-2009-0556
Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, and 2003 SP3, and PowerPoint in Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, allows remote attackers to…
- 8.8HighCVSS base score
- 67.3%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 0.7% of all CVEs
- YesKnown exploitedin CISA's KEV since 7 Jan 2026
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, and 2003 SP3, and PowerPoint in Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a PowerPoint file with an OutlineTextRefAtom containing an an invalid index value that triggers memory corruption, as exploited in the wild in April 2009 by Exploit:Win32/Apptom.gen, aka "Memory Corruption Vulnerability."
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as Microsoft Office PowerPoint Code Injection Vulnerability.
- Added
- 7 Jan 2026
- Fix due (US federal)
- 28 Jan 2026
- Used by ransomware
- Not known
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
ENISA's EU Vulnerability Database lists it as exploited, from CISA's KEV, since 7 Jan 2026.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.
Timeline
ID reserved
By microsoft
- 50 days later
· 50 days later
Published
- 17 years later
· 17 years later
Added to CISA KEV
Known exploited in the wild
- 1 day later
· 1 day later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 67.3% · top 0.7% of all CVEs (11 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.8.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References19
- http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-019 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/archive/2009/04/02/new-0-day-exploits-using-powerpoint-files.aspx (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- ADV-2009-1290 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_VUPENx_transferred
- 53182 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_OSVDBx_transferred
- MS09-017 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_MSx_transferred
- powerpoint-unspecified-code-execution(49632) (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_XFx_transferred
- 34351 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- ADV-2009-0915 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_VUPENx_transferred
- http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2009/04/02/microsoft-security-advisory-969136.aspx (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- http://blogs.technet.com/srd/archive/2009/04/02/investigating-the-new-powerpoint-issue.aspx (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:6279 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entrysignaturex_refsource_OVALx_transferred
- 34572 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- 1021967 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_SECTRACKx_transferred
- TA09-132A (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_CERTx_transferred
- http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/969136.mspx (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- VU#627331 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_CERT-VNx_transferred
- 20090512 ZDI-09-019: Microsoft Office PowerPoint OutlineTextRefAtom Parsing Memory Corruption Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQx_transferred
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:6204 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entrysignaturex_refsource_OVALx_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2009-0556 (opens in a new tab)government-resource
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- CISA KEV catalog (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2009-0560 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2009-0556)Record last updated .