We use optional cookies to improve your experience on our websites, such as through social media connections, and to display personalized advertising based on your online activity. If you reject optional cookies, only cookies necessary to provide you the services will be used. You may change your selection by clicking “Manage Cookies” at the bottom of the page. Privacy Statement Third-Party Cookies Accept Reject Manage cookies MSRC  Customer Guidance  Security Update Guide  Vulnerabilities  CVE-2026-23657 Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability New On this page  CVE-2026-23657  Subscribe RSS PowerShell  API  CSAF Security Vulnerability Released: Apr 14, 2026 Assigning CNA Microsoft CVE.org link CVE-2026-23657  Impact Remote Code Execution Max Severity Important Weakness CWE-416: Use After Free CVSS Source Microsoft Vector String CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C Metrics CVSS:3.1 7.8 / 6.8  Base score metrics: 7.8 / Temporal score metrics: 6.8  Expand all  Collapse all Metric Value   Base score metrics(8) Attack Vector Local Attack Complexity Low Privileges Required None User Interaction Required Scope Unchanged Confidentiality High Integrity High Availability High   Temporal score metrics(3) Exploit Code Maturity Unproven Remediation Level Official Fix Report Confidence Confirmed Please see Common Vulnerability Scoring System for more information on the definition of these metrics. Executive Summary Use after free in Microsoft Office Word allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally. Exploitability The following table provides an exploitability assessment for this vulnerability at the time of original publication. Publicly disclosed No Exploited No Exploitability assessment Exploitation Less Likely FAQ According to the CVSS metric, the attack vector is local (AV:L). Why does the CVE title indicate that this is a remote code execution? The word Remote in the title refers to the location of the attacker. This type of exploit is sometimes referred to as Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE). The attack itself is carried out locally. This means an attacker or victim needs to execute code from the local machine to exploit the vulnerability. Is the Preview Pane an attack vector for this vulnerability? No, the Preview Pane is not an attack vector. According to the CVSS metric, user interaction is required (UI:R). What interaction would the user have to do? An attacker must send a user a malicious Office file and convince them to open it. Acknowledgements Haifei Li with EXPMON https://pub.expmon.com/ Microsoft recognizes the efforts of those in the security community who help us protect customers through coordinated vulnerability disclosure. See Acknowledgements for more information. Security Updates To determine the support lifecycle for your software, see the Microsoft Support Lifecycle. Release date Descending  Edit columns  Download  Filters  Product Family  Max Severity  Impact  Platform   Clear Release date  Product Platform Impact Max Severity Article Download Build Number Assigning CNA Customer Action Required Loading... Disclaimer The information provided in the Microsoft Knowledge Base is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply. Revisions version revisionDate description 1.0 Apr 14, 2026 Information published.  How satisfied are you with the MSRC Security Update Guide? Rating  Broken  Bad  Below average  Average  Great!  Your Privacy Choices Consumer Health Privacy