No. CVE-2026-21509
A Microsoft Office bug is being used in attacks
Yes. Attackers are using this right now.
What to do
Apply the vendor's update. If there is none, stop using it or cut it off from the internet.
- Confirmed in attacks
- Jan 26, 2026
- Product
- Microsoft Office
- Attack likelihood, next 30 days
- 71%
Attack likelihood is EPSS, a daily estimate from FIRST.org of how likely this bug is to be used in attacks in the next 30 days.
The official description
Microsoft Office contains a security feature bypass vulnerability in which reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision in Microsoft Office could allow an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature locally. Some of the impacted product(s) could be end-of-life (EoL) and/or end-of-service (EoS). Users are advised to discontinue use and/or transition to a supported version.
For your tech helper
A read-only checklist for whoever helps you with your computer, or an AI assistant. Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or a coding agent; it only looks and changes nothing.
Read-only check, change nothing, send nothing anywhere.
Is Microsoft Office (CVE-2026-21509) installed or running on this machine or in this project?
1. Find every copy and its version (apps, packages, containers, lockfiles).
2. Compare each version against the vendor's fixed version for CVE-2026-21509. Quote the vendor page you used.
3. Report a table: where, version, fixed version, status (exposed / fixed / not installed / unsure).
4. List the exact update steps, but do not run them.