Vulnerability report

Trusted Third Party Report Confirmed Confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2012-0158

Office Remote Code Execution

Microsoft / Office

Watch CVE-2012-0158 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 8.8 · High
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Trusted Third Party Report
EPSS
100.0%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2012-0158 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Microsoft Office.

Have exploitation attempts been observed?

Yes. Exploitation attempts have been reported for this vulnerability. Previdian lists it as a known exploited vulnerability. Listed in CISA KEV. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

Microsoft / Office.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Office Remote Code Execution

The (1) ListView, (2) ListView2, (3) TreeView, and (4) TreeView2 ActiveX controls in MSCOMCTL.OCX in the Common Controls in Microsoft Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2 and SP3, and 2010 Gold and SP1; Office 2003 Web Components SP3; SQL Server 2000 SP4, 2005 SP4, and 2008 SP2, SP3, and R2; BizTalk Server 2002 SP1; Commerce Server 2002 SP4, 2007 SP2, and 2009 Gold and R2; Visual FoxPro 8.0 SP1 and 9.0 SP2; and Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted (a) web site, (b) Office document, or (c) .rtf file that triggers "system state" corruption, as exploited in the wild in April 2012, aka "MSCOMCTL.OCX RCE Vulnerability."

View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
10 Apr 2012
Exploitation Attempts Reported
03 Nov 2021
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required

Tags

cisa metasploit metasploit_scanner

CVE References

  • CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-0158
  • MS12-027 docs.microsoft.com · Vendor Advisory https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2...
  • TA12-101A us-cert.gov · Third-Party Advisory http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA12-101A.html
  • 1026902 securitytracker.com · VDB Entry http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1026902
  • 1026899 securitytracker.com · VDB Entry http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1026899
  • 1026904 securitytracker.com · VDB Entry http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1026904
  • 1026903 securitytracker.com · VDB Entry http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1026903
  • 1026905 securitytracker.com · VDB Entry http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1026905
  • oval:org.mitre.oval:def:15462 oval.cisecurity.org · VDB Entry https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.m...
  • 52911 securityfocus.com · VDB Entry http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/52911
  • ms-activex-control-code-execution(74372) exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com · VDB Entry https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/74372
  • 1026900 securitytracker.com · VDB Entry http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1026900
  • opensources.info/comment-on-the-curious-case-of-a-cve-2012-01... opensources.info · CVE Record http://opensources.info/comment-on-the-curious-case-of-a-cve-2012-015...

Exploitation evidence

Evidence of exploitation attempts

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploitation Attempts Observed in the Wild

CISA

Recorded 03 Nov 2021

A trusted third party reported exploitation attempts.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 03 Jan 2022

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
CISA First 2021-11-03 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/windows/fileformat/ms12_027_mscomctl_bof.rb 28 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

8.8 High

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

100.0%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') CWE-94

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 8.8 High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 9.3 High

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

ms12_027_mscomctl_bof

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2012-0158

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation attempts

  1. 15:02 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  2. 15:02 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  3. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  4. 21:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  5. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

Start 14-day Pro trial Read API docs
  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2012-0158

Sample API response 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2012-0158",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 8.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99976,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}