MSRC-CVE-2026-88210 — Microsoft Office Word Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Summary

Impact: Security Feature Bypass. Microsoft rating: Important. Not known to be exploited — Exploitation Less Likely. Customer action: Required.

Details

Is the Preview Pane an attack vector for this vulnerability?
Yes, the Preview Pane is an attack vector.

Are the updates for Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021 and 2024 currently available?
Yes. As of October 15, 2025, the security update for Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021, 2024 and Microsoft Office 365 for Mac are available. Customers running Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021, 2024 and Microsoft Office 365 for Mac should ensure the update is installed to be protected from this vulnerability.

What kind of security feature could be bypassed by successfully exploiting this vulnerability?
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could bypass Office macro policies used to block untrusted or malicious files.

Security updates
16.0.17932.21056 — https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/microsoft365-apps-security-updates
https — https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/microsoft365-apps-security-updates
16.114.26101123 — https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/release-notes-office-for-mac

Vulnerabilities 1

High 7.8

CVE-2026-88210

Microsoft Office Word Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision in Microsoft Office Word allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature locally.

Microsoft Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 Microsoft Office LTSC for Mac 2021

Oct 13, 2026

Revision history

2026-10-15 #2
Microsoft is announcing the availability of the security updates for Microsoft Office for Mac. Customers running affected Mac software should install the update for their product to be protected from this vulnerability. Customers running other Microsoft Office software do not need to take any action. See the [Release Notes](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=831049) for more information and download links.
2026-10-13 #1
Information published.

References

CVE-2026-88210 Microsoft Office Word Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability - HTML
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-88210
Microsoft Exploitability Index
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/msrc/exploitability-index?rtc=1
Microsoft Support Lifecycle
https://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle
Common Vulnerability Scoring System
https://www.first.org/cvss