What is CVE-2016-7231?

CVE-2016-7231 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Excel, classified under Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2016-11-10.

How severe is CVE-2016-7231?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.

Buffer overflow in Microsoft Excel

CVE-2016-7231

Microsoft Excel 2007 SP3, Excel for Mac 2011, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, and Excel Viewer allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Office document, aka "Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability."

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published 2016-11-10 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.187 (97.2th percentile), scored 2026-10-19.

Moderate probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — watch for active exploitation reports. 97th percentile — 97.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.187 · newest: 0.187 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-119 — Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer

References

www.securityfocus.com/bid/93996 (vdb-entry)
docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2016/ms16-133 (vendor-advisory)
www.securitytracker.com/id/1037246 (vdb-entry)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-7231?: CVE-2016-7231 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Excel, classified under Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2016-11-10.
How severe is CVE-2016-7231?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.