CVE-2012-1854
Microsoft Office · Office, PDF and utilities
Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability
At a glance
Exploited. Added to CISA’s catalog of exploited vulnerabilities on April 13, 2026.
Affected product: Microsoft Office (category Office, PDF and utilities, indicative classification). Name in CISA’s catalog: Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).
Microsoft component: Office (shared components) (Office apps).
What should I do?
Apply the patches or mitigations from Microsoft; if none are available, stop using the product. For cloud services, follow the guidance from Microsoft.
Deadline set by CISA for US federal agencies: 14 days (due April 27, 2026). It only binds those agencies, but it is a useful measure of urgency.
- CVE-2012-1854 in Microsoft’s Security Update Guide
- Microsoft security advisories page (general page, not the advisory for this vulnerability)
- The vendor’s specific advisory is listed in the NVD references: CVE-2012-1854 on the NVD website.
Original text of the required action (CISA)
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Timeline
- Vulnerability published Publication date (NVD)
- Exploitation confirmed Added to CISA’s KEV catalog
- CISA deadline Remediation deadline set for US federal agencies
The facts, with their sources
- Exploitation confirmed
- Yes, on April 13, 2026 Date added to the catalog of exploited vulnerabilities. Exploitation itself may have started earlier. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- Ransomware
- No known use to date That does not guarantee it is not being used: the information is not public. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- Hunt for compromise
- Not requested by CISA Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- CISA required action
- Apply the patches or mitigations from Microsoft; if none are available, stop using the product. For cloud services, follow the guidance from Microsoft. Rewritten by this site from CISA’s original text. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- CISA deadline
- April 27, 2026, 14 days Set for US federal agencies: a measure of urgency, not an obligation elsewhere. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- Microsoft patch
- Not available Source: Security Update Guide, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- Vulnerability published
- July 10, 2012 Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
- Product according to CISA
- Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) Filed by this site under “Office, PDF and utilities” (indicative classification). Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Technical detail of the score: attack vector, complexity, impact. Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
Severity and activity
Score from the vendor or CISA, relayed by the NVD. Collected Sep 29, 2026.
FIRST’s EPSS model. Since exploitation is already confirmed, this figure is mostly useful to compare activity. Collected Sep 29, 2026.
Description
Untrusted search path vulnerability in VBE6.dll in Microsoft Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 Gold and SP1; Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA); and Summit Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications SDK allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .docx file, aka "Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability," as exploited in the wild in July 2012.
Official description from the NVD, collected Sep 29, 2026. CVE® description © The MITRE Corporation.
Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) contains an insecure library loading vulnerability that could allow for remote code execution.
Summary from CISA (KEV catalog).
CERT-FR advisories
No advisory among the latest CERT-FR publications this site follows. That does not mean there are none.
Information reused under the Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab); the date of last update is shown for each advisory. This site is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by ANSSI.
Sources for this page
- CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, required action, deadline, ransomware.
- Microsoft Security Update Guide: product, patch.
- NVD (NIST): CVSS severity, publication date, description, vendor references.
- EPSS (FIRST): probability of exploitation.
- CERT-FR: advisories and alerts (in French).
- Brand and category: indicative classification by this site (method).