Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-003 - Important

Vulnerability in Microsoft Office (MSO) Could Allow Remote Code Execution (978214)

Published: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 | Updated: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Version: 1.1

General Information

Executive Summary

This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Office that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Office file. 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.

This security update is rated Important for all supported editions of Microsoft Office XP and Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

The update addresses the vulnerability by modifying the way that Microsoft Office opens files. For more information about the vulnerability, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) subsection for the specific vulnerability entry under the next section, Vulnerability Information.

Recommendation. Microsoft recommends that customers apply the update at the earliest opportunity.

Known Issues. Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 978214 documents the currently known issues that customers may experience when installing this security update. The article also documents recommended solutions for these issues. When currently known issues and recommended solutions pertain only to specific releases of this software, this article provides links to further articles.

Affected and Non-Affected Software

The following software have been tested to determine which versions or editions are affected. Other versions or editions are either past their support life cycle or are not affected. To determine the support life cycle for your software version or edition, visit Microsoft Support Lifecycle.

Affected Software

Office Suite and Other Software	Maximum Security Impact	Aggregate Severity Rating	Bulletins Replaced by this Update
Microsoft Office Suites and Components
Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3 (KB977896)	Remote Code Execution	Important	MS09-062
Microsoft Office for Mac
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac (KB979674)	Remote Code Execution	Important	None

Non-Affected Software

Office and Other Software
Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3
2007 Microsoft Office System Service Pack 1
2007 Microsoft Office System Service Pack 2
Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac
Open XML File Format Converter for Mac
Microsoft Office Excel Viewer Service Pack 1 and Microsoft Office Excel Viewer Service Pack 2
Microsoft Office Word Viewer
PowerPoint Viewer 2007 Service Pack 1 and PowerPoint Viewer 2007 Service Pack 2
Visio Viewer 2007 Service Pack 1 and Visio Viewer 2007 Service Pack 2
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats Service Pack 1 and Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats Service Pack 2
Microsoft Works 8.5
Microsoft Works 9

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Related to This Security Update

Where are the file information details?
Refer to the reference tables in the Security Update Deployment section for the location of the file information details.

MS10-004 also describes a vulnerability in Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac. How does MS10-004 Relate to this bulletin (MS10-003)?
As part of the cumulative servicing model for Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, this security update for Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac (KB979674) also addresses the vulnerabilities described in MS10-004. Users with Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac installed will have to install this security update but will only need to install it once.

I am using an older release of the software discussed in this security bulletin. What should I do?
The affected software listed in this bulletin have been tested to determine which releases are affected. Other releases are past their support life cycle. For more information about the product lifecycle, visit the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Web site.

It should be a priority for customers who have older releases of the software to migrate to supported releases to prevent potential exposure to vulnerabilities. To determine the support lifecycle for your software release, see Select a Product for Lifecycle Information. For more information about service packs for these software releases, see Lifecycle Supported Service Packs.

Customers who require custom support for older software must contact their Microsoft account team representative, their Technical Account Manager, or the appropriate Microsoft partner representative for custom support options. Customers without an Alliance, Premier, or Authorized Contract can contact their local Microsoft sales office. For contact information, visit the Microsoft Worldwide Information Web site, select the country in the Contact Information list, and then click Go to see a list of telephone numbers. When you call, ask to speak with the local Premier Support sales manager. For more information, see the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy FAQ.

Vulnerability Information

Severity Ratings and Vulnerability Identifiers

Vulnerability Severity Rating and Maximum Security Impact by Affected Software
Affected Software	MSO.DLL Buffer Overflow - CVE-2010-0243	Aggregate Severity Rating
Microsoft Office Suites and Components
Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3	Important Remote Code Execution	Important
Microsoft Office for Mac
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac	Important Remote Code Execution	Important

MSO.DLL Buffer Overflow - CVE-2010-0243

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way Microsoft Office handles specially crafted Office files. 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.

To view this vulnerability as a standard entry in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list, see CVE-2010-0243.

Mitigating Factors for MSO.DLL Buffer Overflow - CVE-2010-0243

Workarounds for MSO.DLL Buffer Overflow - CVE-2010-0243

FAQ for MSO.DLL Buffer Overflow - CVE-2010-0243

What is the scope of the vulnerability?
This is a remote code execution vulnerability. 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.

What causes the vulnerability?
When a user opens a specially crafted Office file, 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 run arbitrary code as the logged-on user. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. If a user is logged-on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take complete control of the affected system. 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.

How could an attacker exploit the vulnerability?
This vulnerability requires that a user open a specially crafted Office file with an affected version of the software.

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

In a Web-based attack scenario, a Web site could contain an Office file that is used to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker would have to convince users to visit the Web site and open a specially crafted Office file, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or Instant Messenger message that takes users to the attacker's Web site.

What systems are primarily at risk from the vulnerability?
Systems where the affected products are used, including workstations and terminal servers, are primarily at risk. Servers could be at more risk if administrators allow users to log on to servers and to run programs. However, best practices strongly discourage allowing this.

What does the update do?
The update addresses the vulnerability by modifying the way that Microsoft Office opens files.

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 when this security bulletin was originally issued.

Update Information

Detection and Deployment Tools and Guidance

Manage the software and security updates you need to deploy to the servers, desktop, and mobile systems in your organization. For more information see the TechNet Update Management Center. The Microsoft TechNet Security Web site provides additional information about security in Microsoft products.

Security updates are available from Microsoft Update and Windows Update. Security updates are also available from the Microsoft Download Center. You can find them most easily by doing a keyword search for "security update."

Finally, security updates can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog. The Microsoft Update Catalog provides a searchable catalog of content made available through Windows Update and Microsoft Update, including security updates, drivers and service packs. By searching using the security bulletin number (such as, "MS07-036"), you can add all of the applicable updates to your basket (including different languages for an update), and download to the folder of your choosing. For more information about the Microsoft Update Catalog, see the Microsoft Update Catalog FAQ.

Note Microsoft discontinued support for Office Update and the Office Update Inventory Tool as of August 1, 2009. To continue getting the latest updates for Microsoft Office products, use Microsoft Update. For more information, see About Microsoft Office Update: Frequently Asked Questions.

Detection and Deployment Guidance

Microsoft provides detection and deployment guidance for security updates. This guidance contains recommendations and information that can help IT professionals understand how to use various tools for detection and deployment of security updates. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 961747.

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) allows administrators to scan local and remote systems for missing security updates as well as common security misconfigurations. For more information about MBSA, visit Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.

The following table provides the MBSA detection summary for this security update.

Software	MBSA 2.1.1
Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3	Yes
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac	No

The latest version of MBSA has been released: Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.1.1. For more information, see Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.1.

Note For customers using legacy software not supported by MBSA 2.1.1, Microsoft Update, and Windows Server Update Services: please visit Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer and reference the Legacy Product Support section on how to create comprehensive security update detection with legacy tools.

Windows Server Update Services

By using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), administrators can deploy the latest critical updates and security updates for Microsoft Windows 2000 operating systems and later, Office XP and later, Exchange Server 2003, and SQL Server 2000. For more information about how to deploy this security update using Windows Server Update Services, visit the Windows Server Update Services Web site.

Systems Management Server

The following table provides the SMS detection and deployment summary for this security update.

Software	SMS 2.0	SMS 2003 with SUIT	SMS 2003 with ITMU	Configuration Manager 2007
Office XP Service Pack 3	No	No	Yes	Yes
Office 2004 for Mac	No	No	No	No

For SMS 2.0 and SMS 2003, the Security Update Inventory Tool (SUIT) can be used by SMS to detect security updates. See also Downloads for Systems Management Server 2.0.

For SMS 2003, the SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates (ITMU) can be used by SMS to detect security updates that are offered by Microsoft Update and that are supported by Windows Server Update Services. For more information about the SMS 2003 ITMU, see SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates. For more information about SMS scanning tools, see SMS 2003 Software Update Scanning Tools. See also Downloads for Systems Management Server 2003.

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 uses WSUS 3.0 for detection of updates. For more information about Configuration Manager 2007 Software Update Management, visit System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

For more information about SMS, visit the SMS Web site.

For more detailed information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 910723: Summary list of monthly detection and deployment guidance articles.

Note If you have used an Administrative Installation Point (AIP) for deploying Office XP or Office 2003, you may not be able to deploy the update using SMS if you have updated the AIP from the original baseline. For more information, see the Office Administrative Installation Point heading in this section.

Office Administrative Installation Point

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 system.

For supported versions of Microsoft Office XP, see Creating an Administrative Installation Point. For more information on how to change the source for a client system from an updated administrative installation point to an Office XP original baseline source, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 922665.

Note If you plan to manage software updates centrally from an updated administrative image, you can find more information in the article Updating Office XP Clients from a Patched Administrative Image.
For supported versions of Microsoft Office 2003, see Creating an Administrative Installation Point. For more information on how to change the source for a client computer from an updated administrative installation point to an Office 2003 original baseline source or Service Pack 3 (SP3), see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 902349.

Note If you plan to manage software updates centrally from an updated administrative image, you can find more information in the article, Distributing Office 2003 Product Upgrades.
For supported versions of the 2007 Microsoft Office system, see Create a network installation point for the 2007 Office system.

Note If you plan to manage security updates centrally, use Windows Server Update Services. For more information about how to deploy security updates for the 2007 Microsoft Office system using Windows Server Update Services, visit the Windows Server Update Services Web site.

Update Compatibility Evaluator and Application Compatibility Toolkit

Updates often write to the same files and registry settings required for your applications to run. This can trigger incompatibilities and increase the time it takes to deploy security updates. You can streamline testing and validating Windows updates against installed applications with the Update Compatibility Evaluator components included with Application Compatibility Toolkit.

The Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) contains the necessary tools and documentation to evaluate and mitigate application compatibility issues before deploying Microsoft Windows Vista, a Windows Update, a Microsoft Security Update, or a new version of Windows Internet Explorer in your environment.

Security Update Deployment


Inclusion in Future Service Packs	There are no more service packs planned for this software. The update for this issue may be included in a future update rollup.
Deployment
Installing without user intervention	OfficeXP-kb977896-fullfile-enu /q:a
Installing without restarting	OfficeXP-kb977896-fullfile-enu /r:n
Update log file	Not applicable
Further information	For detection and deployment, see the earlier section, Detection and Deployment Tools and Guidance. For features you can selectively install, see the Office Features for Administrative Installations subsection in this section.
Restart Requirement
Restart required?	In some cases, this update does not require a restart. If the required files are being used, this update will require a restart. If this behavior occurs, a message appears that advises you to restart. 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.
Hotpatching	Not applicable
Removal Information	Use 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.
File Information	See Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 977896
Registry Key Verification	Not applicable

Product	Feature
ACCESS, FP, OUTLOOK, PPT, ACCESSRT, PUB	ProductFiles
PIPC1, PROPLUS, PRO, SBE, STD, STDEDU	ProductFiles
EXCEL	EXCELNonBootFiles, ProductFiles

Supported Security Update Installation Switches
Switch	Description
/q	Specifies quiet mode, or suppresses prompts, when files are being extracted.
/q:u	Specifies user-quiet mode, which presents some dialog boxes to the user.
/q:a	Specifies administrator-quiet mode, which does not present any dialog boxes to the user.
/t:path	Specifies the target folder for extracting files.
/c	Extracts the files without installing them. If /t:path is not specified, you are prompted for a target folder.
/c:path	Overrides the install command that is defined by author. Specifies the path and name of the Setup.inf or .exe file.
/r:n	Never restarts the system after installation.
/r:I	Prompts the user to restart the system if a restart is required, except when used with /q:a.
/r:a	Always restarts the system after installation.
/r:s	Restarts the system after installation without prompting the user.
/n:v	No version checking - Install the program over any earlier version.

Other Information

Acknowledgments

Microsoft thanks the following for working with us to help protect customers:

Damian Frizza of Core Security Technologies for reporting the MSO.DLL Buffer Overflow Vulnerability (CVE-2010-0243)

Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP)

To improve security protections for customers, Microsoft provides vulnerability information to major security software providers in advance of each monthly security update release. Security software providers can then use this vulnerability information to provide updated protections to customers via their security software or devices, such as antivirus, network-based intrusion detection systems, or host-based intrusion prevention systems. To determine whether active protections are available from security software providers, please visit the active protections Web sites provided by program partners, listed in Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP) Partners.

Support

Customers in the U.S. and Canada can receive technical support from Security Support or 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no charge for support calls that are associated with security updates. For more information about available support options, see Microsoft Help and Support.
International customers can receive support from their local Microsoft subsidiaries. There is no charge for support that is associated with security updates. For more information about how to contact Microsoft for support issues, visit the International Support Web site.

Disclaimer

The information provided in the Microsoft Knowledge Base is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply.

Revisions

V1.0 (February 9, 2010): Bulletin published.
V1.1 (February 10, 2010): Added a link to Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 978214 under Known Issues in the Executive Summary.