Description

Incomplete cleanup in Microsoft Office PowerPoint allows an unauthorized attacker to disclose information locally.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "5.5",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-11T17:19:05.047Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-11T17:19:05.047Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Microsoft Office PowerPoint due to incomplete cleanup handling during file processing operations. This security flaw enables an unauthorized, locally positioned threat actor to expose sensitive system or application data, potentially compromising confidentiality.\nThe vulnerability affects Microsoft Office PowerPoint by failing to adequately purge residual data from memory or temporary storage states after specific application transactions. The primary impact is localized unauthorized information disclosure, which may yield valuable operational or system data for subsequent exploitation vectors.\nExploitation requires local system access to the target endpoint where Microsoft Office PowerPoint is installed and utilized. The risk implications include the potential leakage of sensitive residual data stored in memory or temporary files, which could aid attackers in reconnaissance or broader privilege escalation chains. No specific remote network attack vectors or elevated execution privileges are inherently mandated by the description beyond local environment interaction.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability stems from improper resource management and incomplete cleanup routines within Microsoft Office PowerPoint. Specifically, the application fails to securely overwrite, clear, or deallocate sensitive data structures residing in memory or temporary storage repositories following the execution of certain file processing or document rendering operations.\nThe vulnerable component involves the internal data handling and memory lifecycle management routines of Microsoft Office PowerPoint. Because residual artifacts persist across application states, an unauthorized local user or process capable of inspecting memory spaces, temporary file locations, or application scratch pads can harvest this residual information.\nThe step-by-step attack flow proceeds as follows: First, a user or the application initiates a standard document processing or rendering workflow within Microsoft Office PowerPoint, which loads sensitive data into memory or temporary storage. Second, upon completion or transition of the task, the application executes an incomplete cleanup sequence, failing to sanitize or purge the residual data blocks. Third, an unauthorized local attacker queries the system memory or scans local temporary storage locations where the leftover data resides. Finally, the attacker extracts the unpurged information, resulting in unauthorized local disclosure of sensitive content.\nThe authentication requirement for exploitation is none regarding application-level credentials, though local operating system interaction is necessary. Privilege requirements are restricted to standard local user capabilities capable of inspecting local application artifacts or executing memory analysis routines. The network exposure is strictly local, as the vulnerability does not inherently facilitate remote exploitation over network sockets or protocols. The post-exploitation impact is limited to the confidentiality breach represented by the leaked information, serving as an intelligence-gathering primitive for the adversary."
}