{"id":"CVE-2024-38226","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2024-38226"],"related":[],"title":"Microsoft Publisher Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability","description":"Microsoft Publisher contains a protection mechanism failure vulnerability that allows attacker to bypass Office macro policies used to block untrusted or malicious files.\n\nCISA required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.","summary":"Microsoft Publisher has a protection mechanism failure that lets an attacker bypass Office macro policies meant to block untrusted or malicious files. CISA lists it as actively exploited in the wild.","severity":"high","cvss":7.3,"epss":null,"exploited":true,"exploited_at":"2024-09-10T00:00:00+00:00","products":[{"name":"Microsoft Publisher","fixed":[],"affected":"","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"microsoft office 2019","fixed":[],"affected":"","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"microsoft office long term servicing channel","fixed":[],"affected":"= 2021","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"microsoft publisher","fixed":[],"affected":"= 2016","ecosystem":"vendor"}],"ecosystems":["vendor"],"tags":["exploited","microsoft-office","microsoft-publisher","package","windows"],"not_affected_if":["unknown"],"how_to_check":null,"fix":"Apply mitigations per Microsoft's vendor instructions, or stop using Microsoft Publisher if mitigations are unavailable (per CISA required action).","status":"open","published_at":"2024-09-10T00:00:00+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:51+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-23T20:58:13+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:05+00:00","category":"package","confidence":0.5,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-23T20:58:13Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"Apply mitigations per Microsoft's vendor instructions, or stop using Microsoft Publisher if mitigations are unavailable (per CISA required action).","reach":"local","impact":"high","summary":"Microsoft Publisher has a protection mechanism failure that lets an attacker bypass Office macro policies meant to block untrusted or malicious files. CISA lists it as actively exploited in the wild.","category":"package","who_cares":["microsoft-office","microsoft-publisher","windows"],"confidence":0.5,"needs_auth":"no","worst_case":"Malicious Publisher files run macros despite Office macro blocking policies","analyst_note":"Find Microsoft's advisory for CVE-2024-38226 for affected and fixed Publisher builds, the exact mitigation steps, and detection guidance for the exploited files.","how_to_check":"unknown","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["unknown"],"user_interaction":"yes","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000462,"input_tokens":2819,"output_tokens":361,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-2024':8A,11A '-38226':9A,12A '2019':17A 'action':91C 'activ':61B 'allow':75C 'appli':92C 'attack':45B,76C 'block':52B,84C 'bypass':5A,46B,78C 'channel':23A 'cisa':57B,89C 'contain':68C 'cve':7A,10A 'discontinu':98C 'exploit':26B,62B 'failur':41B,72C 'featur':4A 'file':56B,88C 'instruct':96C 'let':43B 'list':58B 'long':20A 'macro':48B,80C 'malici':55B,87C 'meant':50B 'mechan':40B,71C 'microsoft':1A,13A,15A,18A,24A,28B,31B,35B,66C 'microsoft-offic':27B 'microsoft-publish':30B 'mitig':93C,104C 'offic':29B,47B,79C 'office':16A,19A 'packag':33B 'per':94C 'polici':49B,81C 'product':102C 'protect':39B,70C 'publish':2A,32B,36B,67C 'publisher':14A,25A 'requir':90C 'secur':3A 'servicing':22A 'term':21A 'unavail':106C 'untrust':53B,85C 'use':82C,99C 'vendor':95C 'vulner':6A,73C 'wild':65B 'window':34B","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":null,"tier":null,"verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2024-09-10T00:00:00+00:00","kev":{"dateAdded":"2024-09-10","dueDate":"2024-10-01","requiredAction":"Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.","knownRansomwareCampaignUse":"Unknown"},"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvss_by":"secure@microsoft.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"kev","external_id":"CVE-2024-38226","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2024-38226","severity":null,"published_at":"2024-09-10T00:00:00+00:00","modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:51+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-25T10:39:05+00:00","note":null},{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2024-38226","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38226","severity":null,"published_at":"2024-09-10T17:15:25+00:00","modified_at":"2026-08-10T16:19:04+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:05+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:05+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}