CVE-2015-1770: Microsoft Office Uninitialized Memory Use Vulnerability Enables Remote Code Execution
What It Is — A use‑after‑free memory flaw in Microsoft Office allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code when a victim opens a specially crafted Office document.
Exploitability — The vulnerability is publicly disclosed, has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (High), and can be weaponized without user interaction beyond opening the document.
Affected Products — Microsoft Office 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019 (all supported editions at the time of disclosure).
Why It Matters for Trust & Control Assurance
- Demonstrates the need for a vulnerability‑management control that tracks patch status, evidence of remediation, and timelines—an objective that maps to many frameworks (e.g., NIST CSF Identify and Protect).
- Failure to remediate quickly erodes the audit trail required for third‑party risk assessments and can invalidate compliance attestations.
- Continuous monitoring of Office deployments provides defensible proof that the organization is exercising due diligence against known exploits.
Recommended Actions
- Verify that the latest security updates for the affected Office versions are deployed across all endpoints.
- Enable centralized logging of Office‑related events and correlate with threat‑intel feeds for indicators of exploitation.
- Incorporate this CVE into your vulnerability‑management program and document remediation dates for audit purposes.
Source: CISA KEV – CVE‑2015‑1770