CVE-2025-59229 is a vulnerability identified in Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 version 16.0.0, classified under CWE-248 (Uncaught Exception). The issue arises from the application failing to properly handle an exception, which can be triggered by an unauthorized attacker with local access. This uncaught exception leads to a denial of service condition by causing the Office application to crash or become unresponsive. The vulnerability does not require elevated privileges (PR:N) but does require user interaction (UI:R), meaning the attacker must convince or trick a local user to perform an action that triggers the exception. The attack vector is local (AV:L), limiting remote exploitation possibilities. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.5, reflecting a medium severity primarily due to the impact on availability (A:H) without affecting confidentiality or integrity. No known exploits have been reported in the wild, and no official patches have been released at the time of publication. The vulnerability could disrupt business operations by interrupting access to critical Office applications, especially in environments where Office LTSC 2024 is widely deployed. Since the flaw is due to an uncaught exception, it may be triggered by malformed documents or specific user actions that cause the application to fail to handle errors gracefully. This vulnerability highlights the importance of robust error handling in complex software suites like Microsoft Office.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-59229 is operational disruption due to denial of service of Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 applications. This can affect productivity, especially in sectors heavily reliant on Office for document creation, communication, and collaboration. Critical infrastructure, government agencies, financial institutions, and large enterprises using this Office version could experience temporary loss of access to essential tools, potentially delaying workflows and decision-making processes. Since the vulnerability requires local access and user interaction, the risk of widespread remote exploitation is low; however, insider threats or compromised endpoints could leverage this flaw to disrupt operations. The absence of confidentiality or integrity impact reduces the risk of data breaches or manipulation, but availability interruptions can still have significant business consequences. Organizations with strict uptime requirements or those operating in regulated environments may face compliance challenges if service disruptions occur. The lack of a patch at the time of disclosure means organizations must rely on interim mitigations until updates are available.

1. Limit local access to systems running Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 to trusted users only, reducing the risk of unauthorized exploitation. 2. Educate users about the risk of opening untrusted or suspicious documents that could trigger the uncaught exception. 3. Implement application whitelisting and endpoint protection solutions to detect and block abnormal Office application behavior or crashes. 4. Monitor system and application logs for frequent or unusual Office crashes that could indicate exploitation attempts. 5. Use least privilege principles to restrict user permissions, minimizing the impact of local attacks. 6. Prepare for rapid deployment of patches once Microsoft releases an official fix for this vulnerability. 7. Consider temporary use of alternative Office versions or productivity tools if operational disruption risk is unacceptable. 8. Employ network segmentation to isolate critical systems and limit lateral movement in case of local compromise. 9. Regularly back up critical documents and data to mitigate the impact of potential service interruptions. 10. Coordinate with IT and security teams to develop incident response plans specific to Office application availability issues.