CVE-2025-47953 is a high-severity vulnerability identified in Microsoft Office 2019 (version 19.0.0) characterized as a use-after-free flaw, categorized under CWE-641: Improper Restriction of Names for Files and Other Resources. This vulnerability arises when Microsoft Office improperly manages memory related to file or resource names, leading to a use-after-free condition. In such scenarios, the application may attempt to access memory that has already been freed, potentially allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code locally without requiring any user interaction or prior authentication. The vulnerability's CVSS 3.1 base score is 8.4, reflecting high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (all rated high), with low attack complexity and no privileges or user interaction needed. Exploitation requires local access, meaning an attacker must have some form of access to the victim machine, but once exploited, it can lead to full compromise of the affected system. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches have been linked yet. The improper restriction of file/resource names suggests that the vulnerability could be triggered by specially crafted files or resource names processed by Office, causing the use-after-free condition and enabling code execution.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-47953 is significant due to the widespread use of Microsoft Office 2019 across enterprises, government agencies, and critical infrastructure sectors. Successful exploitation could lead to local privilege escalation or full system compromise, enabling attackers to steal sensitive data, disrupt business operations, or deploy further malware such as ransomware. Confidentiality breaches could expose personal data protected under GDPR, leading to regulatory penalties and reputational damage. Integrity and availability impacts could disrupt document workflows and critical business processes reliant on Office applications. Since no user interaction or privileges are required, insider threats or attackers with limited access could leverage this vulnerability to escalate their capabilities. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the high severity score indicates that organizations should prioritize addressing this vulnerability to prevent potential targeted attacks.

Given the lack of an official patch at this time, European organizations should implement several specific mitigations beyond generic advice: 1) Restrict local access to systems running Microsoft Office 2019 by enforcing strict endpoint security controls, including application whitelisting and least privilege policies to minimize the risk of local exploitation. 2) Employ robust file scanning and filtering mechanisms to block or quarantine suspicious Office documents or files with unusual or malformed resource names that could trigger the vulnerability. 3) Monitor system and application logs for anomalous behavior indicative of use-after-free exploitation attempts, such as unexpected crashes or memory access violations in Office processes. 4) Use virtualization or sandboxing technologies to isolate Office applications, limiting the impact of potential code execution. 5) Prepare incident response plans specifically addressing local privilege escalation and code execution scenarios involving Office products. 6) Stay alert for official patches or updates from Microsoft and prioritize their deployment as soon as they become available. 7) Educate users about the risks of opening untrusted Office documents, even though user interaction is not required for exploitation, to reduce the attack surface.