CVE-2026-97745

Summary

A use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code when a malicious file is opened. This occurs when the application frees memory that is still being referenced, potentially leading to code execution with the privileges of the user who opened the file.

Exploitability

Exploitation requires a user to open a specially crafted Excel file, making it moderately difficult but achievable through social engineering or phishing campaigns.

Blast radius

The vulnerability affects Microsoft 365 apps, Office 2021, and Office 2024, meaning a large portion of enterprise users could be impacted if exploited.

Detection

No reliable host or network indicator is derivable from the published description.

Prioritized remediation

Deploy the Microsoft Excel update KB5040348 or later to address this vulnerability.

Analysis generated locally by garnet-coder (no data left the box). AI-assisted — verify against primary sources before acting.