CVE-2014-1761
Microsoft Word 2003 SP3, 2007 SP3, 2010 SP1 and SP2, 2013, and 2013 RT; Word Viewer; Office Compatibility Pack SP3; Office for Mac 2011; Word Automation Services on SharePoint Server 2010 SP1 and SP2 and 2013; Office Web Apps 2010 SP1 and SP2; and Office Web Apps Server 2013 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via crafted RTF data, as exploited in the wild in March 2014.
Executive Summary
CVE-2014-1761 is a critical severity vulnerability affecting binary-analysis. It is classified as an undisclosed flaw. Ensure your systems and dependencies are patched immediately to mitigate exposure risks.
Precogs AI Insight
"This security defect is primarily driven by within Microsoft Word 2003 SP3,, allowing bypassed validation checks on external interactions. In a real-world scenario, an attacker could exploit this by compromise the entire application stack, rendering traditional defenses ineffective. Precogs Binary SAST detects lifecycle mismanagement and dangling pointers to neutralize the threat at the source level."
What is this vulnerability?
CVE-2014-1761 is categorized as a critical Memory Corruption Vulnerability flaw. Based on our vulnerability intelligence, this issue occurs when the application fails to securely handle untrusted data boundaries.
Microsoft Word 2003 SP3, 2007 SP3, 2010 SP1 and SP2, 2013, and 2013 RT; Word Viewer; Office Compatibility Pack SP3; Office for Mac 2011; Word Automation Se.
This architectural defect enables adversaries to bypass intended security controls, directly manipulating the application's execution state or data layer. Immediate strategic intervention is required.
Risk Assessment
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| CVSS Base Score | 9.8 (CRITICAL) |
| Vector String | N/A |
| Published | March 21, 2026 |
| Last Modified | March 21, 2026 |
| Related CWEs | N/A |
Impact on Systems
✅ Remote Code Execution: Adversaries may execute arbitrary code by overwriting memory regions.
✅ Denial of Service: Memory corruption often leads to unrecoverable application crashes.
✅ Information Disclosure: Out-of-bounds reads can expose adjacent memory containing sensitive data.
How to fix this issue?
Implement the following strategic mitigations immediately to eliminate the attack surface.
1. Memory-Safe Languages When possible, migrate parsing logic to memory-safe languages like Rust or Go.
2. Compiler Protections Ensure the binary is compiled with ASLR, DEP/NX, Stack Canaries, and RELRO.
3. Fuzz Testing Implement continuous fuzzing with AddressSanitizer (ASan) in the CI/CD pipeline.
Vulnerability Signature
// Generic Memory Corruption Vector (C/C++)
void process_input(char *user_data, size_t size) \{
char buffer[256];
// DANGEROUS: Unbounded memory operation
memcpy(buffer, user_data, size); // size may exceed 256
// SECURED: Bound-checked operation
if (size \> sizeof(buffer)) \{
size = sizeof(buffer);
\}
memcpy(buffer, user_data, size);
\}
References and Sources
Vulnerability Code Signature
Attack Data Flow
| Stage | Detail |
|---|---|
| Source | Network packet or file input |
| Vector | Data exceeds the allocated buffer bounds during a copy operation |
| Sink | strcpy(), memcpy(), or pointer arithmetic |
| Impact | Memory corruption, Remote Code Execution (RCE) |
Vulnerable Code Pattern
// ❌ VULNERABLE: Memory Corruption
void process_data(char *input) {
char buffer[128];
// Taint sink: copies without bounds checking
strcpy(buffer, input);
}
Secure Code Pattern
// ✅ SECURE: Bounded Memory Operations
void process_data(char *input) {
char buffer[128];
// Sanitized boundary check
strncpy(buffer, input, sizeof(buffer) - 1);
buffer[sizeof(buffer) - 1] = '\0';
}
How Precogs Detects This
Precogs Binary SAST engine explicitly uncovers memory boundary violations and unsafe memory management functions in compiled binaries.\n