CVE-2026-21509

Microsoft Office Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

  • High 7.8
  • Exploited: added to CISA KEV 26 Jan 2026

Description

Reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision in Microsoft Office allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature locally.

Key facts

Published
26 Jan 2026
Last changed
30 Jul 2026
Assigned by
microsoft
KEV added
26 Jan 2026
KEV fix due
16 Feb 2026
EPSS
70.823% likely to be exploited in the next 30 days, higher than 99.409% 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.

  • 7.8CVSS 3.1, Highfrom the CNA (microsoft)CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C

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
MicrosoftMicrosoft 365 Apps for Enterprise
  • 16.0.1 up to but excluding https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases (affected)
MicrosoftMicrosoft Office 2016
  • 16.0.0 up to but excluding 16.0.5539.1001 (affected)
MicrosoftMicrosoft Office 2019
  • 19.0.0 up to but excluding 16.0.10417.20095 (affected)
MicrosoftMicrosoft Office LTSC 2021
  • 16.0.1 up to but excluding https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases (affected)
MicrosoftMicrosoft Office LTSC 2024
  • 16.0.0 up to but excluding https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases (affected)

Timeline

  1. 26 Jan 2026 Added to the CISA KEV catalogue
  2. 26 Jan 2026 Published

Weakness

References