CVE-2008-4266

Array index vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, and 2003 SP3; Excel Viewer 2003 Gold and SP3; Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac; and Open XML File Format Converter for Mac allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via an Excel spreadsheet with a NAME record that contains an invalid index value, which triggers stack corruption, aka "Excel Global Array Memory Corruption Vulnerability."

Published: 2008-12-10 Last update: 2026-04-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2008-4266 is rated High Risk (66.4/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 27.58%, 98th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2008-4266

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 59.29% 27.58% -31.70%
2 2025-06-28 63.59% 59.29% -4.30%
3 2025-05-01 63.59%

Full EPSS history (25 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2008-4266

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.3 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
8.6 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2008-4266

NVD evaluator notes for CVE-2008-4266

Comment: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-074.mspx Excel Global Array Memory Corruption Vulnerability - CVE-2008-4266 A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Office Excel as a result of stack corruption when loading Excel records. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Excel file that includes a malformed object. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2008-4266

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft excel 2000 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2000:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft excel 2002 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2002:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft excel 2003 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel:2003:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft excel_viewer 2003 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel_viewer:2003:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft excel_viewer 2003 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:excel_viewer:2003:sp3:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft office 2004 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2004:*:mac:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft office 2008 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office:2008:*:mac:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft open_xml_file_format_converter cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:open_xml_file_format_converter:*:*:mac:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2008-4266

cvelogic Threat Intelligence