Description
Deserialization of untrusted data in Microsoft Office Publisher allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.
Published: 2026-09-08
Score: 8.8 High
EPSS: 1.3% Low
KEV: No
Impact: Remote Code Execution
Action: Immediate Patch
AI Analysis

Impact

Deserialization of untrusted input in Microsoft Office Publisher enables an attacker who can supply data over the network to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system. This flaw can be leveraged to compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected machine at the privilege level of the Publisher process.

Affected Systems

The vulnerability affects Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, Microsoft Office 2019, Microsoft Office LTSC 2021, Microsoft Office LTSC 2024, and Microsoft Publisher 2016. No specific version numbers are listed, but any installation of these products that has not applied the recent security update is potentially vulnerable.

Risk and Exploitability

With a CVSS score of 8.8 the vulnerability is considered high severity. The EPSS score is 1% and the issue is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, but the nature of the flaw suggests that a network‑based attacker with the ability to supply malformed files could exploit it. Exploitation would require only network access to a file containing malicious serialized data; no local privilege escalation prerequisites are indicated in the provided description.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on September 9, 2026 at 20:28 UTC.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Apply the latest Office cumulative update that includes the fix for CVE-2026-81385
  • If an immediate update is not possible, uninstall or disable Microsoft Publisher 2016 and tighten group policy to prevent its use in the environment
  • Enforce strict network share permissions and monitor for anomalous file transfer activity involving Publisher files to detect possible exploitation attempts

Generated by OpenCVE AI on September 9, 2026 at 20:28 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories yet.

History

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Microsoft microsoft 365 Apps For Enterprise
Vendors & Products Microsoft microsoft 365 Apps For Enterprise

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 19:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Microsoft publisher
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:365_apps:-:*:*:*:enterprise:*:x64:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:365_apps:-:*:*:*:enterprise:*:x86:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_2019:-:*:*:*:*:*:x64:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_2019:-:*:*:*:*:*:x86:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_2021:-:*:*:*:ltsc:-:x64:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_2021:-:*:*:*:ltsc:-:x86:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_2024:-:*:*:*:ltsc:-:x64:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_2024:-:*:*:*:ltsc:-:x86:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:publisher:2016:*:*:*:*:*:x64:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:publisher:2016:*:*:*:*:*:x86:*
Vendors & Products Microsoft publisher

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 19:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Tue, 08 Sep 2026 17:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Deserialization of untrusted data in Microsoft Office Publisher allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.
Title Microsoft Office Publisher Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
First Time appeared Microsoft
Microsoft 365 Apps
Microsoft office 2019
Microsoft office 2021
Microsoft office 2024
Microsoft publisher 2016
Weaknesses CWE-502
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:365_apps:*:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_2019:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_2021:*:*:*:*:long_term_servicing_channel:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:office_2024:*:*:*:*:long_term_servicing_channel:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:publisher_2016:*:*:*:*:*:*:x86:*
Vendors & Products Microsoft
Microsoft 365 Apps
Microsoft office 2019
Microsoft office 2021
Microsoft office 2024
Microsoft publisher 2016
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 8.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C'}


Subscriptions

Microsoft 365 Apps Microsoft 365 Apps For Enterprise Office 2019 Office 2021 Office 2024 Publisher Publisher 2016
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: microsoft

Published:

Updated: 2026-09-30T15:24:48.175Z

Reserved: 2026-08-26T18:46:26.215Z

Link: CVE-2026-81385

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-09-08T18:56:39.192Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2026-09-08T18:20:54.720

Modified: 2026-09-09T19:30:06.363

Link: CVE-2026-81385

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-09-10T20:48:30Z

Weaknesses
  • CWE-502

    Deserialization of Untrusted Data