Code execution via unmatched DOCX paragraph tag
Published Oct 7, 2022 · Updated Apr 15, 2025
Buffer underflow in Hword in Hancom Office 2020 11.0.0.5357 allows attackers to execute code by opening a malformed DOCX file. When word/document.xml contains a closing paragraph tag without its opening tag, Hword assumes another vector element exists, subtracts four bytes from a heap pointer, and uses the preceding value for an indirect call. A victim must open the crafted document; successful exploitation executes code in the victim's process context.
Summary
What happened
Buffer underflow in Hword in Hancom Office 2020 11.0.0.5357 allows attackers to execute code by opening a malformed DOCX file. When word/document.xml contains a closing paragraph tag without its opening tag, Hword assumes another vector element exists, subtracts four bytes from a heap pointer, and uses the preceding value for an indirect call. A victim must open the crafted document; successful exploitation executes code in the victim's process context.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-33896
- Published
- Oct 7, 2022
- Updated
- Apr 15, 2025
- Vendor
- Hancom Inc.
- Product
- Hancom Office 2020
- Classifications
- CWE-124, T1203, T1204.002
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 7, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 15, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=Hancom Office 2020 11.0.0.5357
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Cisco Talos malformed DOCX proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo