CVE-2025-59240VulnerabilityPublished 11 Nov 2025Updated 13 Feb 2026

CVE-2025-59240: Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise · Information Exposure

Affects Microsoft 365 Apps for EnterpriseSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 50% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Base metrics

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Temporal metrics

Exploit Code Maturity: Unproven
Remediation Level: Official Fix
Report Confidence: Confirmed

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.
Exploit Code Maturity: Unproven: No exploit code is available, or an exploit is theoretical.
Remediation Level: Official Fix: A complete vendor solution is available. Either the vendor has issued an official patch, or an upgrade is available.
Report Confidence: Confirmed: Detailed reports exist, or functional reproduction is possible (functional exploits may provide this). Source code is available to independently verify the assertions of the research, or the author or vendor of the affected code has confirmed the presence of the vulnerability.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 11 Nov 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Microsoft Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise	Affected =16.0.1	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

1. Restrict local access to systems running Microsoft Excel 16.0.1 by enforcing strict physical and logical access controls, including the use of strong authentication and session locking. 2. Implement application whitelisting and endpoint protection solutions to monitor and block suspicious activities related to Excel files and processes. 3. Educate users about the risks of opening untrusted Excel files and enforce policies to avoid executing unknown or unsolicited documents. 4. Monitor logs and endpoint telemetry for unusual file access patterns or attempts to extract sensitive data from Excel. 5. Until an official patch is released, consider deploying temporary workarounds such as disabling macros or limiting Excel functionality through group policies where feasible. 6. Maintain an up-to-date asset inventory to identify and prioritize systems running the affected Excel version for rapid patch deployment once available. 7. Coordinate with Microsoft support channels to receive timely updates and patches. 8. Conduct regular security awareness training emphasizing local threat vectors and insider risks. 9. Employ data loss prevention (DLP) solutions to detect and prevent unauthorized data exfiltration from endpoints. 10. Review and tighten file sharing and storage permissions to minimize exposure of sensitive Excel files.

Description

Exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor in Microsoft Office Excel allows an unauthorized attacker to disclose information locally.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-59240 is the potential unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information processed or stored in Microsoft Excel. This could lead to breaches of confidentiality, especially in sectors such as finance, healthcare, legal, and government where sensitive data is prevalent. Data leakage could result in regulatory non-compliance under GDPR, leading to financial penalties and reputational damage. Since exploitation requires local access and user interaction, the risk is higher in environments where endpoint security is weak or where insider threats exist. The vulnerability does not affect system integrity or availability, so it does not directly enable data manipulation or denial of service. However, the exposure of sensitive data could facilitate further attacks or social engineering campaigns. Organizations with extensive use of Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, particularly Excel, are at greater risk. The absence of known exploits in the wild provides a window for proactive mitigation. Nevertheless, the medium severity score reflects a moderate risk that should not be ignored, especially in high-value or regulated environments.

CWE-200Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #20OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V7.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Subverting Environment Variable Values (opens in a new tab)
ICMP Echo Request Ping (opens in a new tab)
TCP SYN Scan (opens in a new tab)
Enumerate Mail Exchange (MX) Records (opens in a new tab)
DNS Zone Transfers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-59240 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 14 Feb 2026, 07:15 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-200

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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