CVE-2025-27744 is a high-severity vulnerability identified in Microsoft Office 2016, specifically version 16.0.0. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-284, which pertains to improper access control. This flaw allows an authorized attacker with local access to the system to elevate their privileges beyond their current level. The vulnerability does not require user interaction (UI:N) and can be exploited with low attack complexity (AC:L), but it does require the attacker to have some level of privileges already (PR:L), meaning the attacker must have local access with limited privileges. The scope of the vulnerability is unchanged (S:U), indicating the impact is confined to the vulnerable component without affecting other components. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.8, reflecting a high severity due to the potential for complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H). Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability's characteristics suggest that once exploited, an attacker could gain elevated privileges, potentially allowing them to execute arbitrary code, access sensitive documents, or disrupt normal operations within the affected Microsoft Office environment. Since Microsoft Office 2016 is widely used in enterprise environments, this vulnerability poses a significant risk if left unpatched. The lack of available patches at the time of reporting further increases the urgency for mitigation and monitoring.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-27744 could be substantial. Microsoft Office 2016 remains in use across various sectors including government, finance, healthcare, and education. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could escalate privileges locally, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive documents, modification or deletion of critical data, and disruption of business processes. This could result in data breaches, loss of intellectual property, regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR violations), and operational downtime. The high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact means that critical business functions relying on Office documents and macros could be compromised. Additionally, since the attack requires local access, insider threats or attackers who have already compromised lower-level accounts could leverage this vulnerability to gain administrative control, exacerbating the risk landscape for European enterprises.

Given the absence of an official patch at the time of this report, European organizations should implement several specific mitigation strategies: 1) Restrict local access to systems running Microsoft Office 2016 by enforcing strict physical and network access controls to limit potential attackers. 2) Employ application whitelisting and privilege management tools to prevent unauthorized elevation of privileges and restrict execution of untrusted code within Office applications. 3) Monitor and audit local account activities closely, focusing on privilege escalation attempts and anomalous behavior within Office processes. 4) Encourage migration to supported versions of Microsoft Office where this vulnerability is patched or mitigated. 5) Use endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions configured to detect suspicious local privilege escalation patterns related to Office components. 6) Educate users about the risks of running untrusted macros or opening suspicious documents, even though user interaction is not required for this exploit, as layered defenses reduce overall risk. 7) Prepare incident response plans specifically addressing potential exploitation scenarios involving Office privilege escalation. These targeted measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on controlling local access, monitoring privilege changes, and leveraging endpoint security tailored to Office environments.