How severe is CVE-2016-7262?

CVE-2016-7262 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which products are affected by CVE-2016-7262?

CVE-2016-7262 affects the following products: microsoft excel, microsoft excel viewer, microsoft office compatibility pack.

How do I patch CVE-2016-7262?

No patch has shipped for CVE-2016-7262 yet — track the microsoft excel advisory for a fixed release and apply the workarounds below in the meantime.

How do I detect CVE-2016-7262 across my infrastructure?

Inventory every microsoft excel deployment and check each version against the affected-products list above.

How do I mitigate CVE-2016-7262 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands. Alongside that, restrict the management interface to trusted networks and apply the vendor's recommended configuration mitigations.

Is CVE-2016-7262 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2016-7262, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2016-7262?

CVE-2016-7262 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 57.7%, placing it in the 99th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is CVE-2016-7262 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2016-7262 (Microsoft Office Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2022-03-03. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-03-24. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2016-7262?

CVE-2016-7262 affects microsoft excel (4 versions, e.g. 2007, 2010, 2013…); microsoft excel viewer; microsoft office compatibility pack. Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2016-7262 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2016-7262 was published on December 20, 2016 and was last updated on June 17, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🛡️

CISA KEV · ACTIVELY EXPLOITED

HIGH severity

CVE-2016-7262 — EXCEL

HIGH

CVE-2016-7262 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in microsoft excel. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03) — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.

Microsoft Excel 2007 SP3, Excel 2010 SP2, Excel 2013 SP1, Excel 2013 RT SP1, Excel 2016, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, and Excel Viewer allow user-assisted remote attackers to execute…

Published

Dec 20, 2016

Updated

Jun 17, 2026

Affected

3 products

Patched

See advisory

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 23, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Actively exploited in the wild

Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-03-03. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2022-03-24.
A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2016-7262.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

57.7%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs99th percentile — riskier than 99% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2016-7262 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 394,803 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 50–90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Description

Microsoft Excel 2007 SP3, Excel 2010 SP2, Excel 2013 SP1, Excel 2013 RT SP1, Excel 2016, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, and Excel Viewer allow user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted cell that is mishandled upon a click, aka "Microsoft Office Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability."

Affected Products

3 products · 7 configurations

Application

excelmicrosoft

4 versions

2007201020132016

Application

excel viewermicrosoft

all

Application

office compatibility packmicrosoft

all

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

Microsoft Excel 2007 SP3, Excel 2010 SP2, Excel 2013 SP1, Excel 2013 RT …

cisa.govCISAMar 2022

Detection & mitigation playbook

Vendor / appliance

Detect
Inventory every microsoft excel deployment and check each version against the affected-products list above.
Remediation status
No patch has shipped for CVE-2016-7262 yet — track the microsoft excel advisory for a fixed release and apply the workarounds below in the meantime.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands. Alongside that, restrict the management interface to trusted networks and apply the vendor's recommended configuration mitigations.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Runtime Protection

Is CVE-2016-7262 being exploited in your environment?

Detect and block the exploit chain at execution, on systems you cannot patch yet.

Protect my workloads How runtime protection works

CVE-2016-7262 — EXCEL

Exploitation Status

Actively exploited in the wild

EPSS Exploitation Probability

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Description

Affected Products

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Remediation status

Mitigate without a patch

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CVE-2016-7262 being exploited in your environment?