CVE-2026-21509

CRITICALPre-NVD 7.89.0
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

“▲” beside the score: it is higher than the CVSS score beside it.

Score elevated to 9.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2026-01-26), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. The CNA's CVSS baseline 7.8 retained for reference (NVD's own analysis pending). The 9.0 is the floor for confirmed exploitation, not an impact rating: this CVE's impact severity (EG Severity) is CVSS 7.8 HIGH under GitHub Security Advisory CVSS. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, the CNA's CVSS, EPSS, GitHub Security Advisory
Exploited in the wild

Also known asEUVD-2026-4666 (ENISA EUVD) · GHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 (GitHub Security Advisories)Source: ENISA EUVD

9.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV) — the reason this is sooner than the SSVC decision on this page at low or medium mission impact
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 71%CVSS: 7.8Exploit: Public PoCExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

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

CVSS v3
7.8
EG Score
9.0CRITICALhigh confidence
EG Risk
75
EG Risk 75/100

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.

How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)
Severity78% × 45%
Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 7.8 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.
Exploitation100% × 40%
Fixed at 100% for a CISA KEV listing: EchelonGraph's rule.
Automatability0% × 15%
CISA's SSVC Automatable value: no (Vulnrichment).
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.
Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact.
EPSS PROB
71%
EPSS %ILE
99th
KEV
⚠ Exploited

What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)

The EG score (9.0): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 9.0 is the CISA KEV floor for confirmed exploitation, not an impact rating: its impact severity (EG Severity) is CVSS 7.8 HIGH.

EG Severity
7.8 HIGHCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
EG Likelihood
71% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-11-12). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
Confirmed exploitation
CISA KEV and EG-KEV Tier 1 (exploited in the wild)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
EG Priority
SSVC Attend at medium mission impactTrack at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.CISA BOD 26-04: 3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.

SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact.

Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table

BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.

The score's inputs: In CISA KEV yes (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it

CISA required action“Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.”

Quoted verbatim from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. CISA directs it at US federal civilian executive branch agencies under Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 26-04, which replaced BOD 22-01 on 10 June 2026; it is not EchelonGraph's advice. CISA's notes: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-21509 · https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-21509

Published

January 26, 2026

Last Modified

July 30, 2026

Advisory Details (4)

Auto-updated Nov 11, 2026
⚠️ Actively exploited (CISA KEV, CISA Vulnrichment). Patch available. Sources: microsoft.
Web page

CVE-2026-21509 Mitigation Script - Microsoft Office Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability - vsociety

https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2026-21509-mitigation-script-microsoft-office-security-feature-bypass-vulnerability
Microsoft

Security Update Guide - Microsoft Security Response Center

https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-21509
CISA🔴 Active Exploitation

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA. Listed in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-21509
Web page

CVE-2026-21509 Detection Script - Microsoft Office Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability - vsociety

https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2026-21509-detection-script-microsoft-office-security-feature-bypass-vulnerability

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-21509(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 15× in last 7d / 65× in last 30d)

Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed its CVE.org record (CNA or CISA ADP). An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). "EchelonGraph re-scored" is our own recompute of this CVE's score, not an update from a source, and is not counted in the refreshes above. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 1,764 rows on record for this CVE.

A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. None are among the latest 100 rows. The 1,664 oldest rows on record are not shown and were not checked, so the counts can still include repeats.

  1. 2026-11-13 16:51 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  2. 2026-11-13 11:29 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  3. 2026-11-13 11:29 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  4. 2026-11-12 09:42 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  5. 2026-11-12 09:42 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  6. 2026-11-11 16:39 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  7. 2026-11-11 07:55 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  8. 2026-11-11 07:55 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  9. 2026-11-10 16:43 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  10. 2026-11-10 06:07 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  11. 2026-11-10 06:07 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  12. 2026-11-09 16:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  13. 2026-11-09 04:19 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  14. 2026-11-09 04:19 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-11-09 04:19 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  16. 2026-11-08 02:30 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  17. 2026-11-08 02:30 UTCVendor advisory
  18. 2026-11-08 02:30 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  19. 2026-11-07 16:38 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  20. 2026-11-07 00:41 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  21. 2026-11-07 00:41 UTCVendor advisory
  22. 2026-11-07 00:41 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  23. 2026-11-06 16:37 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  24. 2026-11-05 22:54 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  25. 2026-11-05 22:54 UTCVendor advisory
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-11-05 22:54 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  2. 2026-11-05 16:37 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  3. 2026-11-04 21:07 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  4. 2026-11-04 21:07 UTCVendor advisory
  5. 2026-11-04 21:07 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  6. 2026-11-03 19:20 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  7. 2026-11-03 19:20 UTCVendor advisory
  8. 2026-11-03 19:19 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  9. 2026-11-03 16:47 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  10. 2026-11-02 17:31 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  11. 2026-11-02 17:31 UTCVendor advisory
  12. 2026-11-02 17:31 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  13. 2026-11-01 16:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  14. 2026-11-01 15:44 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  15. 2026-11-01 15:44 UTCVendor advisory
  16. 2026-11-01 15:44 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  17. 2026-10-31 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  18. 2026-10-31 13:56 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  19. 2026-10-31 13:56 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-10-31 13:56 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  21. 2026-10-30 16:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  22. 2026-10-30 12:09 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  23. 2026-10-30 12:09 UTCVendor advisory
  24. 2026-10-30 12:09 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  25. 2026-10-29 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  26. 2026-10-29 10:22 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  27. 2026-10-29 10:22 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  28. 2026-10-28 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  29. 2026-10-28 08:35 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  30. 2026-10-28 08:35 UTCVendor advisory
  31. 2026-10-28 08:35 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  32. 2026-10-27 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  33. 2026-10-27 06:48 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  34. 2026-10-27 06:48 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  35. 2026-10-26 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  36. 2026-10-26 05:02 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  37. 2026-10-26 05:01 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  38. 2026-10-25 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  39. 2026-10-25 14:43 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  40. 2026-10-25 03:14 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  41. 2026-10-25 03:14 UTCVendor advisory
  42. 2026-10-25 03:14 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  43. 2026-10-24 01:27 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  44. 2026-10-24 01:27 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  45. 2026-10-23 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  46. 2026-10-22 23:39 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  47. 2026-10-22 23:39 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  48. 2026-10-21 21:52 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  49. 2026-10-21 21:52 UTCVendor advisory
  50. 2026-10-21 21:52 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  51. 2026-10-21 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  52. 2026-10-20 20:05 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  53. 2026-10-20 20:04 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  54. 2026-10-20 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  55. 2026-10-19 18:15 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  56. 2026-10-19 18:15 UTCVendor advisory
  57. 2026-10-19 18:15 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  58. 2026-10-19 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  59. 2026-10-18 16:25 UTCVendor advisory
  60. 2026-10-18 16:25 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  61. 2026-10-18 03:56 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  62. 2026-10-17 16:33 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  63. 2026-10-17 14:58 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  64. 2026-10-17 14:58 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  65. 2026-10-16 13:10 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  66. 2026-10-16 13:10 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  67. 2026-10-15 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  68. 2026-10-15 11:22 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  69. 2026-10-15 11:21 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  70. 2026-10-14 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  71. 2026-10-14 09:31 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  72. 2026-10-14 09:31 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-ch84-h92g-mw93 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  73. 2026-10-13 16:33 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 71% · 99th percentile
  74. 2026-10-13 07:42 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  75. 2026-10-13 07:42 UTCVendor advisory

Publicly available exploits

(7 references)

Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (5 GitHub PoCs), as are 2 GitHub checker repositories. A GitHub repository named or described as a checker or scanner checks whether a system is affected; it is not necessarily exploit code. Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly.

  • GitHub checkersuuhm/CVE-2026-21509-handler
    Published Mar 1, 2026

    PowerShell script to check, apply, and test the Kill-Bit protection for the CVE-2026-21509 Microsoft Office zero-day vulnerability affecting Office 2016/2019/LTSC.

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCdecalage2/detect_CVE-2026-21509
    Published Feb 4, 2026

    YARA rule and python script to detect potential exploits for the CVE-2026-21509 vulnerability in MS Office

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCSimoesCTT/CTT-MICROSOFT-OFFICE-OLE-MANIFOLD-BYPASS-CVE-2026-21509
    Published Feb 1, 2026

    CVE-2026-21509 is a critical bypass in the Microsoft Office OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) validation engine. While standard "laminar" exploits attempt to manipulate static COM objects, this repository utilizes Theorem 4.2 to achieve a speculative race-condition bypass of the Object Definition Rule (ODR).

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCSimoesCTT/CTT-NFS-Vortex-RCE
    Published Jan 31, 2026

    New Physics Disclosure This repository contains a full weaponized exploit for **CVE-2026-21509**, targeting the Windows Network File System (NFSv4.1) kernel-mode driver (`nfssvr.sys`).

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub checkerksk-itdk/KSK-ITDK-CVE-2026-21509-Mitigation
    Published Jan 29, 2026

    Powershell script with Detection and Remediation for CVE-2026-21509

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCgavz/CVE-2026-21509-PoC
    Published Jan 29, 2026

    Educational PoC for CVE‑2026‑21509 (Microsoft Office security feature bypass). Generates a harmless DOCX with dummy OLE artifacts to study EDR/AV visibility. Not an exploit. For isolated labs only; see README for 7‑Zip inspection steps and mitigation references.

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCkimstars/Ashwesker-CVE-2026-21509
    Published Jan 27, 2026

    CVE-2026-21509

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2026-21509?
CVE-2026-21509 is a critical-severity vulnerability; its CVE record was published on January 26, 2026. Reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision in Microsoft Office allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature locally.
When was CVE-2026-21509 made public?
CVE-2026-21509 was made public on January 26, 2026: that is the date its CVE record's CNA, Microsoft Corporation, gives for when the vulnerability was made public. The CVE record itself was published on January 26, 2026. EchelonGraph's copy of the record carries a last-modified date of July 30, 2026; the record at its source may have been updated since.
Is CVE-2026-21509 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2026-21509 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on January 26, 2026, affecting Microsoft Office. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate attention. A fix is available. Apply it.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-21509?
CVE-2026-21509 has a CVSS base score of 7.8 (the CNA's own assessment, by microsoft; NVD's own analysis pending). EchelonGraph synthesises the CNA's CVSS + CISA KEV + FIRST EPSS + GHSA into a combined EG score of 9.0 (CRITICAL).
Which products are affected by CVE-2026-21509?
CVE-2026-21509 affects Microsoft Office.
How do I remediate CVE-2026-21509?
A fix for CVE-2026-21509 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory. The vendor advisories EchelonGraph has for CVE-2026-21509 are linked in the Vendor Advisories panel on this page.

Dependency Blast Radius

Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2026-21509

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