Security Digest · Vulnerability record · Known exploited
CVE-2024-38226: Microsoft Publisher Protection Mechanism Failure Vulnerability
Exploited in the wild (CISA KEV). Microsoft Publisher Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
CISA KEV · added 2024-09-10 CVSS 7.3 High EPSS 2.7% · p86
Should you act?
Exploited: patch now if you run it
CISA has confirmed exploitation in the wild. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.
- Yes, if you run Microsoft Publisher. CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2024-09-10, which means there is reliable evidence of exploitation in the wild. US federal agencies must remediate by 2024-10-01; treat that as the outer limit, not the target.
- EPSS 2.7%, percentile 86: FIRST’s model estimates a 2.7% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 86% of all scored CVEs (elevated). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
- Needs local access needed. Lower urgency for most teams unless an attacker could already run code on the machine.
What it is
Microsoft Publisher Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
CISA’s summary
Microsoft Publisher contains a protection mechanism failure vulnerability that allows attacker to bypass Office macro policies used to block untrusted or malicious files.
Weakness type: CWE-693.
Product: Microsoft Publisher · Assigned by: microsoft · Published: 2024-09-10
Affected and fixed versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions (per CVE record) |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Microsoft Office 2019 | 19.0.0 < https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases |
| Microsoft | Microsoft Office LTSC 2021 | 16.0.1 < https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases |
| Microsoft | Microsoft Publisher 2016 | 16.0.0 < 16.0.5465.1001 |
Severity scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| microsoft | 3.1 | 7.3 High | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C |
- Attack vector: local access needed
- Attack complexity: low
- Privileges required: low (any account)
- User interaction: required (a user must click/open something)
- Scope: unchanged
CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.
Exploitation and urgency
- CISA KEV: added 2024-09-10; federal due date 2024-10-01. Known ransomware use: Unknown.
- CISA required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact total.
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 2.67% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 86.
Timeline
- — Added to CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
- — CVE record published by microsoft
- — CISA remediation deadline for US federal agencies
- — CVE record last updated
Sources and references
Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.
Vendor and project advisories, patches
- Microsoft Publisher Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability msrc.microsoft.com
Vulnerability records
- CVE.org record CVE-2024-38226 cve.org
- NVD entry CVE-2024-38226 nvd.nist.gov
Government
All exploited Microsoft vulnerabilities · Today’s Security Digest