CVE-2023-21715 | Microsoft Publisher Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

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Microsoft Publisher Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Published: 2023-02-14 Last update: 2025-10-30 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-21715 is rated Critical Active Threat (92.7/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 12.11%, 96th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2023-02-14) affecting Microsoft / Office. a weakness (CWE-863) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. EPSS rose +11.62% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

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

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2023-21715

Name: Microsoft Office Publisher Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2023-02-14

Action due: 2023-03-07

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-21715

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 0.48% 12.11% +11.62%
2 2026-04-27 0.72% 0.48% -0.24%
3 2026-02-15 — 0.72% —

Full EPSS history (30 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-21715

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.3 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.3 5.9 [email protected]
7.3 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.3 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-21715

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-21715

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft 365_apps — cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:365_apps:-:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-21715

cvelogic Threat Intelligence