Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-014

What is the scope of the vulnerability?
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

What causes the vulnerability?
Word does not perform sufficient data validation when processing the contents of a file. When Word opens a specially crafted Word file and parses a malformed string, it may corrupt system memory in such a way that an attacker could execute arbitrary code.

What might an attacker use the vulnerability to do?
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of the affected system.

How could an attacker exploit the vulnerability?
In an e-mail attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a specially crafted file to the user and by convincing the user to open the file. The vulnerability cannot be exploited via HTML or Rich Text Format (RTF) e-mail even if a user has configured Word as their e-mail editor.

In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker would have to host a Web site that contains a Word file that is used to attempt to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit a malicious Web site. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade them to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link that takes them to the attacker's site.

What does the update do?
The update removes the vulnerability by modifying the way that Microsoft Word handles certain strings.

When this security bulletin was issued, had this vulnerability been publicly disclosed?
Yes. This vulnerability has been publicly disclosed. It has been assigned Common Vulnerability and Exposure number CVE-2006-5994.

When this security bulletin was issued, had Microsoft received any reports that this vulnerability was being exploited?
Yes. When the security bulletin was released, Microsoft had received information that this vulnerability was being exploited.

What is the scope of the vulnerability?
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

What causes the vulnerability?
Word does not perform sufficient data validation when processing the contents of a file. When Word opens a specially crafted Word file and parses a malformed data structure, it may corrupt system memory in such a way that an attacker could execute arbitrary code.

What might an attacker use the vulnerability to do?
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of the affected system.

How could an attacker exploit the vulnerability?
In an e-mail attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a specially crafted file to the user and by persuading the user to open the file.

In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker would have to host a Web site that contains a Word file that is used to attempt to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit a malicious Web site. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade them to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link that takes them to the attacker's site.

What does the update do?
The update removes the vulnerability by modifying the way that Microsoft Word handles certain data structures.

When this security bulletin was issued, had this vulnerability been publicly disclosed?
Yes. This vulnerability has been publicly disclosed. It has been assigned Common Vulnerability and Exposure number CVE-2006-6456.

When this security bulletin was issued, had Microsoft received any reports that this vulnerability was being exploited?
Yes. When the security bulletin was released, Microsoft had received information that this vulnerability was being exploited.

What is the scope of the vulnerability?
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

What causes the vulnerability?
Word does not perform sufficient data validation when processing the contents of a file. When Word opens a specially crafted Word file and parses an unchecked count, it may corrupt system memory in such a way that an attacker could execute arbitrary code.

What might an attacker use the vulnerability to do?
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of the affected system.

How could an attacker exploit the vulnerability?
In an e-mail attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a specially crafted file to the user and by persuading the user to open the file.

In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker would have to host a Web site that contains a Word file that is used to attempt to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit a malicious Web site. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade them to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link that takes them to the attacker's site.

What does the update do?
The update removes the vulnerability by modifying the way that Microsoft Word checks the count, before it passes the message to the allocated buffer.

When this security bulletin was issued, had this vulnerability been publicly disclosed?
Yes. This vulnerability has been publicly disclosed. It has been assigned Common Vulnerability and Exposure number CVE-2006-6561.

When this security bulletin was issued, had Microsoft received any reports that this vulnerability was being exploited?
Yes. When the security bulletin was released, Microsoft had received information that this vulnerability was being exploited.

What is the scope of the vulnerability?
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

What causes the vulnerability?
The vulnerability results because Word incorrectly checks properties in a modified document, causing it to not prompt the user with a macro security warning when macros are present in the document.

What is a Macro?
Generally, the term macro refers to a small program that automates frequently-performed tasks in an operating system or in a program. For example, all members of the Office family of products support the use of macros. This allows companies to develop macros that perform as sophisticated productivity tools that run in Word, in Excel, or in other programs. Like any computer program, macros can be misused. Malicious software may be written as macros and then embedded in Office documents. To mitigate this threat, Office has a security model that is designed to make sure that macros can only run when the user wants them to run. By using this vulnerability, an attacker might be able to run a macro without warning the user that a macro is present in the document.

What might an attacker use the vulnerability to do?
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of the affected system.

How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability?
An attacker could seek to exploit this vulnerability by creating a specially-crafted Word document that contained a malicious macro. The attacker could then send it to a user, typically through an e-mail message, and then persuade the user to open the document. As a result, if the user were attacked by means of this vulnerability, the user's macro security level could be reduced and other macros that would otherwise be stopped by Word could be allowed to run. An attacker could also host the specially-crafted Word document on a network share or on a Web site; however, the attacker would still need to persuade the user to open the document.

In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker would have to host a Web site that contains a Word file that is used to attempt to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit a malicious Web site. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade them to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link that takes them to the attacker's site.

What does the update do?
The update removes the vulnerability by modifying the way that Microsoft Word performs certain macro security controls when it opens a document.

When this security bulletin was issued, had this vulnerability been publicly disclosed?
No. Microsoft received information about this vulnerability through responsible disclosure.

When this security bulletin was issued, had Microsoft received any reports that this vulnerability was being exploited?
No. Microsoft had not received any information to indicate that this vulnerability had been publicly used to attack customers and had not seen any examples of proof of concept code published when this security bulletin was originally issued.

What is the scope of the vulnerability?
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

What causes the vulnerability?
Word does not perform sufficient data validation when processing the contents of a file. When Word opens a specially crafted Word file and parses a malformed drawing object, it may corrupt system memory in such a way that an attacker could execute arbitrary code.

What might an attacker use the vulnerability to do?
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of the affected system.

How could an attacker exploit the vulnerability?
In an e-mail attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a specially crafted file to the user and by persuading the user to open the file.

In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker would have to host a Web site that contains a Word file that is used to attempt to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit a malicious Web site. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade them to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link that takes them to the attacker's site.

What does the update do?
The update removes the vulnerability by modifying the way that Microsoft Word handles certain drawing objects.

When this security bulletin was issued, had this vulnerability been publicly disclosed?
No. Microsoft received information about this vulnerability through responsible disclosure.

When this security bulletin was issued, had Microsoft received any reports that this vulnerability was being exploited?
No. Microsoft had not received any information to indicate that this vulnerability had been publicly used to attack customers and had not seen any examples of proof of concept code published when this security bulletin was originally issued.

What is the scope of the vulnerability?
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability when Word parses a file and processes a malformed function. Such a specially crafted file might be included as an e-mail attachment or hosted on a malicious web site. Viewing or previewing a malformed e-mail message in an affected version of Outlook could not lead to exploitation of this vulnerability. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Word file that could allow remote code execution.

If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

What causes the vulnerability?
Word does not perform sufficient data validation when processing the contents of a file. When Word opens a specially crafted Word file and parses a malformed function, it may corrupt system memory in such a way that an attacker could execute arbitrary code.

What might an attacker use the vulnerability to do?
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of the affected system.

How could an attacker exploit the vulnerability?
In an e-mail attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a specially crafted file to the user and by persuading the user to open the file.

In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker would have to host a Web site that contains a Word file that is used to attempt to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit a malicious Web site. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade them to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link that takes them to the attacker's site.

What does the update do?
The update removes the vulnerability by modifying the way that Microsoft Word handles certain strings.

When this security bulletin was issued, had this vulnerability been publicly disclosed?
Yes. This vulnerability has been publicly disclosed. It has been assigned Common Vulnerability and Exposure number CVE-2007-0515.

When this security bulletin was issued, had Microsoft received any reports that this vulnerability was being exploited?
Yes. When the security bulletin was released, Microsoft had received information that this vulnerability was being exploited.

Important Before you install this update, make sure that the following requirements have been met:

Windows Installer 2.0 for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Millennium Edition

Windows Installer 2.0 for Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0

For more information about how to determine the version of Office 2000 that is installed on your computer, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 255275.

Inclusion in Future Service Packs

None. Service Pack 3 is the last service pack for Office 2000.

Restart Requirement

To help reduce the chance that a restart will be required, stop all affected services and close all applications that may use the affected files prior to installing the security update. For more information about the reasons why you may be prompted to restart, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 887012.

Removal Information

After you install the update, you cannot remove it. To revert to an installation before the update was installed; you must remove the application, and then install it again from the original CD-ROM.

Office Update Web Site

We recommend that you install the Microsoft Office 2000 client updates by using the Office Update Web site. The Office Update Web site detects which installation you have and prompts you to install exactly what you must have to make sure that your installation is completely up to date.

To have the Office Update Web site detect the updates that you must install on your computer, visit the Office Update Web site, and then click Check for Updates. After detection is complete, you will receive a list of recommended updates for your approval. Click Agree and Install to complete the process.

For detailed information about how to manually install this update, review the following section.

Installation Information

The security update supports the following setup switches.

Note These switches do not necessarily work with all updates. If a switch is not available, that functionality is required for the correct installation of the update. Also, using the /n:v switch is unsupported and may result in an unbootable system. If the installation is unsuccessful, you should contact your support professional to understand why it could not install.

For more information about the supported setup switches, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 197147.

Note The full file office update is intended for both client and administrative deployment scenarios.

Client Deployment Information

Note If the security update is already installed on your computer, you receive the following error message: This update has already been applied or is included in an update that has already been applied.

Client Installation File Information

The English version of this update has the file attributes that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Word 2000:

Verifying that the Update Has Been Applied

Note MBSA 1.2.1 uses an integrated version of the Office Detection Tool (ODT) which does not support remote scans of this issue. For more information about MBSA, visit the MBSA Web site. For more information about MBSA support, visit the following Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 1.2 Q&A Web site.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

If you installed your application from a server location, the server administrator must update the server location with the administrative update and deploy that update to your computer.

Installation Information

The following setup switches are relevant to administrative installations as they allow an administrator to customize how the files are extracted from the security update.

For more information about the supported setup switches, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 197147.

Administrative Deployment Information

To update your administrative installation, follow these steps:

At this point, your administrative installation point is updated. Next, you must update the workstations configurations that were originally installed from this administrative installation. To do this, please review the “Workstation Deployment Information” section. Any new installations that you run from this administrative installation point will include the update.

Warning Any workstation configuration that was originally installed from this administrative installation before you installed the update cannot use this administrative installation for actions like repairing Office or adding new features until you complete the steps in the “Workstation Deployment Information” section for this workstation.

Workstation Deployment Information

To deploy the update to the client workstations, click Start, click Run, type the following command, and then click OK:

msiexec /I Admin Path\MSI File /qb REINSTALL=Feature List REINSTALLMODE=vomu

Note Admin Path is the path of your administrative installation point for your application (for example, C:\Office2000), MSI File is the .msi database package for the application (for example, Data1.msi), and Feature List is the list of feature names (case sensitive) that must be reinstalled for the update.

To install all features, you can use REINSTALL=ALL or you can install the following features.

Note Administrators working in managed environments can find complete resources for deploying Office updates in an organization at the Office Admin Update Center. At that site, scroll down and look under the Update Resources section for the software version you are updating. The Windows Installer Documentation also provides more information about the parameters supported by Windows Installer.

Administrative Installation File Information

The English version of this update has the file attributes that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Word 2000:

Verifying that the Update Has Been Applied

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

Important: Before you install this update, make sure that the following requirements have been met:

Windows Installer 2.0 for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Millennium Edition

Windows Installer 2.0 for Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0

For more information about how to determine the version of Office XP that is installed on your computer, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 291331. For more information about the version information displayed in the About dialog box, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 328294.

Inclusion in Future Service Packs

None. Service Pack 3 is the last service pack for Office XP.

Restart Requirement

To help reduce the chance that a restart will be required, stop all affected services and close all applications that may use the affected files prior to installing the security update. For more information about the reasons why you may be prompted to restart, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 887012.

Removal Information

To remove this security update, use the Add or Remove Programs tool in Control Panel.

Note When you remove this update, you may be prompted to insert the Microsoft Office XP CD in the CD drive. Additionally, you may not have the option to uninstall the update from the Add or Remove Programs tool in Control Panel. There are several possible causes for this issue. For more information about the removal, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 903771.

Office Update Web Site

This update will be available through the Microsoft Update Web site. Microsoft Update consolidates updates provided by Windows Update and Office Update into one location and enables you to choose automatic delivery and installation of high-priority and security updates. We recommend that you install this update by using the Microsoft Update Web site. The Microsoft Update Web site detects your particular installation and prompts you to install exactly what you must have to make sure that your installation is completely up to date.

To have the Microsoft Update Web site detect the required updates that you must install on your computer, visit the Microsoft Update Web site. You will be given the choice of Express (Recommended) or Custom. After detection is complete, you will receive a list of recommended updates for your approval. Click Install Updates or Review and Install Updates to complete the process.

For detailed information about how to manually install this update please review the following section.

Installation Information

The security update supports the following setup switches:

Note These switches do not necessarily work with all updates. If a switch is not available, that functionality is required for the correct installation of the update. Also, using the /n:v switch is unsupported and may result in an unbootable system. If the installation is unsuccessful, you should contact your support professional to understand why it could not install.

For additional information about the supported setup switches, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 197147.

Client Deployment Information

Note If the security update is already installed on your computer, you receive the following error message: This update has already been applied or is included in an update that has already been applied.

Client Installation File Information

The English version of this update has the file attributes that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Word 2002:

Verifying that the Update Has Been Applied

If you installed your application from a server location, the server administrator must update the server location with the administrative update and deploy that update to your computer.

Installation Information

The following setup switches are relevant to administrative installations as they allow an administrator to customize how the files are extracted from within the security update.

For more information about the supported setup switches, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 197147.

Administrative Deployment Information

To update your administrative installation, follow these steps: