CVE-2012-1854: Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

Name

Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability

Vendor

Microsoft

Product

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)

Added to the catalog

2026-04-13

Due date for US federal agencies

2026-04-27

Weaknesses

CWE-426

Catalog version

2026.10.30

Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) contains an insecure library loading vulnerability that could allow for remote code execution.

Required action (CISA)

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Ransomware use: CISA does not mark known use of this vulnerability in ransomware campaigns.

Links in CISA's notes

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2012/ms12-046
• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-1854

Read on 2026-11-02T23:39:54.475Z under licence cisa-kev-cc0@b0067899 from https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json

NVD analysis

Status

Analyzed

Published

2012-07-10T21:55:05.587

Last modified

2026-06-16T23:40:25.993

Weaknesses

NVD-CWE-Other, CWE-426

Untrusted search path vulnerability in VBE6.dll in Microsoft Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 Gold and SP1; Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA); and Summit Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications SDK allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .docx file, aka "Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability," as exploited in the wild in July 2012.

References

• http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA12-192A.html (US Government Resource)
• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2012/ms12-046 (Mitigation, Vendor Advisory)
• https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A14950 (Broken Link)
• http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA12-192A.html (US Government Resource)
• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2012/ms12-046 (Mitigation, Vendor Advisory)
• https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A14950 (Broken Link)
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/SecurityBulletins/2012/ms12-046 (Mitigation, Vendor Advisory)
• https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2012-1854 (US Government Resource)

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

Read on 2026-11-02T23:41:28.906Z under licence nvd-api-terms-of-use@ff2a5288 from https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?cveId=CVE-2012-1854

CVE record

Assigner

microsoft

State

PUBLISHED

Published

2012-07-10T21:00:00.000Z

Updated

2026-04-14T03:55:29.134Z

Problem types

n/a

Untrusted search path vulnerability in VBE6.dll in Microsoft Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 Gold and SP1; Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA); and Summit Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications SDK allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .docx file, aka "Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability," as exploited in the wild in July 2012.

References

• TA12-192A
• oval:org.mitre.oval:def:14950
• MS12-046

Read on 2026-11-03T00:24:09.069Z under licence cve-terms-of-use@81bfa2f3 from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/main/cves/2012/1xxx/CVE-2012-1854.json

Defensive techniques (MITRE D3FEND)

D3FEND maps these defensive techniques to the weakness (CWE) that NVD lists for this CVE, through the digital artifacts the weakness affects. D3FEND does not say they stop this vulnerability.

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