Microsoft Project Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
CVE-2024-38189 is a security vulnerability in Microsoft Project, added to CISA KEV on August 13, 2024. Patch priority: Plan to patch.
What it is
Microsoft Project contains an unspecified vulnerability that allows for remote code execution via a malicious file.
Who's affected
Affects anyone running Microsoft Project. Microsoft products in a small practice typically sit close to credentials, email, or document workflows — treat the patch as in-scope.
What to do
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
If you don't have someone in-house to verify the patch deployed across every endpoint — or you're not sure whether you're affected — that's exactly the kind of triage we do. Book a free 20-minute triage call.
Insurance readiness
Your insurer will ask if this is patched.
Unpatched entries on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list are exactly what cyber-insurance carrier questionnaires probe for, and knowing which controls they check is how you keep a renewal from stalling.
Get the free carrier questionnaire →Severity
CVSS base score: 8.8 — HIGH
Weakness classification: CWE-20
Microsoft fix
- Click to Run (Security Update)
- KB5002561 (Security Update)
Microsoft Exploitability Index (assessed at update release): Exploitation Detected
Microsoft has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation in the latest software release. This aligns with CISA's listing of this CVE.
Vendor workaround
Vendor-published mitigation
The following mitigating factors might be helpful in your situation:
Microsoft strongly recommends customers do not disable the Block macros from running in Office files from the Internet policy which protects against this vulnerability. However, customers who have disabled this policy can alternatively enable VBA Macro Notification Settings to protect their systems from this vulnerability being exploited.
A workaround reduces exposure while you patch — it is not a substitute for the update. Install the fix above as soon as you can.
CISA due date
Federal deadline: September 3, 2024. Federal agencies must complete the required action by this date. For private SMBs the deadline is advisory — but treat it as a strong recommendation, especially if you handle regulated data (HIPAA, GLBA, ABA model rules).
EPSS
EPSS score: 8.2% — higher than 94% of all scored CVEs.
EPSS estimates the probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days. Every entry on this site is already confirmed exploited, so read it as relative urgency among the things you still have open, not as permission to wait.
Source
This entry comes from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, public US-Government data we pull daily. The plain-language framing and the what-to-do guidance above are ours. View the original entry on cisa.gov.