CVE-2012-1854: Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Insecure Library Loading Vulnerability
- Is it exploited?
Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 13 Apr 2026, 5,025 days after the CVE record was published.
- How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
- 20.9%
EPSS score, percentile 97.5 of all scored records
- How severe?
- 7.8 High
CVSS v3.1 base score, from CISA's enrichment of the record
- What should I do?
CISA deadline 27 Apr 2026. Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- Which versions are affected?
Not stated. The CVE record gives vendor and product as “n/a” and the version as “unspecified”.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
What to do
Required action, set by 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.
CISA due date for this action: 27 April 2026.
Advisories and patches
Linked from CISA's catalog entry
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2012/ms12-046
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-1854
Affected products and versions
The CVE record does not name affected products or versions: vendor and product are “n/a” and the version is “unspecified”.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
About this vulnerability
Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) contains an insecure library loading vulnerability that could allow for remote code execution.
Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA added CVE-2012-1854 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 13 Apr 2026.
- CISA's ransomware flag for this entry is "Unknown": no evidence of ransomware use in the catalog, which is not proof of none.
- The due date CISA sets for the required action is 27 Apr 2026.
- The CVE record was published on 10 Jul 2012, 5,025 days before it was added to KEV.
- The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (High), taken from CISA's enrichment of the record.
- FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 20.9% (percentile 97.5), as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact total.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Description
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.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Weakness
- CWE-426: Untrusted Search Path
CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 10 Jul 2012 | CVE record published |
| 13 Apr 2026 | Added to CISA KEV |
| 14 Apr 2026 | CVE record last updated |
| 27 Apr 2026 | CISA due date for the required action |
References
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