Hazard

Is CVE-2012-1856 being exploited?

Weaponised and widely attempted

Reliable public exploit code exists, or mass exploitation attempts are probable. Patch inside days, not weeks.

Microsoft Office MSCOMCTL.OCX Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Microsoft · Office

CVSS 8.8 EPSS 62% no public exploit indexed Fix deadline passed 24 March 2022

What it is

The TabStrip ActiveX control in the Common Controls in MSCOMCTL.OCX in Microsoft Office allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted (1) document or (2) web page that triggers system-state corruption.

Why we say that

  • EPSS puts exploitation in the next 30 days at 62%
  • CISA's federal remediation deadline (2022-03-24) has passed
  • Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue

Every line above comes from a named public source. Where the evidence is thin, we say so rather than inventing confidence — see methodology.

What to do

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

What it costs when this goes wrong

This is where UK enforcement meets the vulnerability record. Where an unfixed vulnerability leads to a breach, the ICO treats it as a security failure under UK GDPR. Recent cases:

All UK cases caused by unpatched software →