CVE-2021-42292 Microsoft CVE debrief

Who should care

Microsoft Office and Excel administrators, endpoint management teams, security operations staff, and organizations with large Office deployments should prioritize this issue, especially where patch compliance is centrally managed.

Technical summary

The supplied corpus identifies the issue as a security feature bypass in Microsoft Excel within Microsoft Office. No CVSS score is provided in the supplied records. Because CISA included it in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, it should be handled as a confirmed exploitation-risk item and remediated through vendor updates.

Defensive priority

High. CISA KEV inclusion and the stated remediation deadline indicate urgent patching and verification are warranted.

Recommended defensive actions

• Apply Microsoft updates per vendor instructions.
• Inventory Microsoft Office and Excel installations to confirm exposure.
• Verify patch compliance across managed endpoints and servers that include Office components.
• Prioritize remediation using the CISA KEV due date of 2021-12-01 as the historical urgency marker.
• Track completion in vulnerability management and exception workflows until all affected systems are updated.

Evidence notes

The supplied source corpus names the issue as “Microsoft Office Microsoft Excel Security Feature Bypass” and “Microsoft Excel Security Feature Bypass,” with vendor/product listed as Microsoft/Office. CISA KEV metadata states “Apply updates per vendor instructions,” dateAdded 2021-11-17, dueDate 2021-12-01, and knownRansomwareCampaignUse Unknown. No CVSS score or additional technical exploit details are provided in the supplied material.

Official resources