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CVE-2009-0556

Microsoft Office PowerPoint Code Injection Vulnerability

  • High 8.8
  • Exploited: added to CISA KEV 7 Jan 2026

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."

Key facts

Published
3 Apr 2009
Last changed
8 Jan 2026
Assigned by
microsoft
KEV added
7 Jan 2026
KEV fix due
28 Jan 2026
EPSS
67.312% likely to be exploited in the next 30 days, higher than 99.317% of CVEs (scores for 15 Nov 2026)
SSVC (CISA)
Exploitation: active; Automatable: no; Technical impact: total

Severity scores

Each score is shown as its source gave it. They are not averaged or merged.

  • 8.8CVSS 3.1, Highfrom CISA (ADP container)CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

What to do

  • Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.CISA KEV required action

Historical context and remediation

This reference retains the original CVE publication date. A recent record update does not mean a new attack occurred.

No separately sourced impact summary is available on this page yet. Consult the description, version data and dated exploitation evidence.

Version statuses below come from the CNA. An “unaffected” version is not necessarily a currently supported release or proof of a patch date. EPSS is a dated risk estimate, not a count of historical attacks.

Read the original CVE record.

Affected products

VendorProductVersions
n/an/a
  • n/a (affected)

Timeline

  1. 3 Apr 2009 Published
  2. 7 Jan 2026 CVE-2009-0556 added to CISA KEV
  3. 7 Jan 2026 Added to the CISA KEV catalogue

Weakness

References