CVE-2026-21514: Microsoft Office Word Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision Vulnerability

Is it exploited?

Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 10 Feb 2026, the same day the CVE record was published.

How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?

1.6%

EPSS score, percentile 75.5 of all scored records

How severe?

7.8 High

CVSS v3.1 base score, given by the CNA

What should I do?

CISA deadline 3 Mar 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.

Advisories and patches (1)

Which versions are affected?

Affected

• 16.0.1
• 16.0.1
• 16.0.0
• from 16.0.1 to before 16.106.26020821
• from 16.0.0 to before 16.106.26020821

Versions by product

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

CISA due date for this action: 3 March 2026.

Advisories and patches

• Microsoft Word Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability (Vendor advisory, Patch)

Linked from CISA's catalog entry

• https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-21514
• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-21514

Affected products and versions

As listed in the CVE record.

Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

About this vulnerability

Microsoft Office Word contains a reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision vulnerability that could allow an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.

• CISA added CVE-2026-21514 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 10 Feb 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 3 Mar 2026.
• The CVE record was published on 10 Feb 2026, the same day it was added to KEV.
• The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (High), given by its CNA.
• FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.6% (percentile 75.5), 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

Microsoft Word Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision in Microsoft Office Word allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature locally.

Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

Weakness

• CWE-807: Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision

CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.

Timeline

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