Hazard

Is CVE-2023-21715 being exploited?

Confirmed exploited in the wild

CISA has evidence of active exploitation. This is not theoretical risk — someone has already used it against someone.

Microsoft Office Publisher Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Microsoft · Office

CVSS 7.3 EPSS 12% no public exploit indexed Fix deadline passed 7 March 2023

What it is

Microsoft Office Publisher contains a security feature bypass vulnerability that allows for a local, authenticated attack on a targeted system.

Why we say that

  • CISA's federal remediation deadline (2023-03-07) 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 →