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Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-017 - Important

Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution (980150)

Published: | Updated:

Version: 1.1

General Information

Executive Summary

This security update resolves seven privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Excel. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Excel file. An attacker who successfully exploited any of these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the local user. 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 Excel 2002, Microsoft Office Excel 2003, Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, and Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac; Open XML File Format Converter for Mac; and all supported versions of Microsoft Office Excel Viewer and Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

The update addresses the vulnerabilities by changing the way that Microsoft Office Excel parses specially crafted Excel 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 980150 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 SoftwareComponentMaximum Security ImpactAggregate Severity RatingBulletins Replaced by this Update
Microsoft Office Suites and Components
Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3Microsoft Office Excel 2002 Service Pack 3
(KB978471)
Remote Code ExecutionImportantMS09-067
Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Service Pack 3
(KB978474)
Remote Code ExecutionImportantMS09-067
2007 Microsoft Office System Service Pack 1Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Service Pack 1[1]
(KB978382)
Remote Code ExecutionImportantMS09-067
2007 Microsoft Office System Service Pack 2Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Service Pack 2[1]
(KB978382)
Remote Code ExecutionImportantMS09-067
Microsoft Office for Mac
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac
(KB980837)
Not applicableRemote Code ExecutionImportantNone
Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac
(KB980839)
Not applicableRemote Code ExecutionImportantNone
Open XML File Format Converter for Mac
(KB980840)
Not applicableRemote Code ExecutionImportantNone
Other Office Software
Microsoft Office Excel Viewer Service Pack 1 and Microsoft Office Excel Viewer Service Pack 2
(KB978383)
Not applicableRemote Code ExecutionImportantMS09-067
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
(KB978380)
Not applicableRemote Code ExecutionImportantMS09-067
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions)[2]
(KB979439)
Not applicableRemote Code ExecutionImportantMS09-021
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (32-bit editions)[2]
(KB979439)
Not applicableRemote Code ExecutionImportantMS09-021
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions)[2]
(KB979439)
Not applicableRemote Code ExecutionImportantMS09-021
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (64-bit editions)[2]
(KB979439)
Not applicableRemote Code ExecutionImportantMS09-021

[1]For Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Service Pack 1 and Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Service Pack 2, in addition to security update package KB978382, customers also need to install the security update for 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 (KB978380) to be protected from the vulnerabilities described in this bulletin.

[2]This update applies to servers that have Excel Services installed, such as the default configuration of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Internet sites. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Standard does not include Excel Services.

Non-Affected Software

Office and Other Software
Microsoft Office File Converter Pack
Microsoft Works 8.5
Microsoft Works 9

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Related to This Security Update

Vulnerability Information

Severity Ratings and Vulnerability Identifiers

Microsoft Office Excel Record Memory Corruption Vulnerability - CVE-2010-0257

Microsoft Office Excel Sheet Object Type Confusion Vulnerability - CVE-2010-0258

Microsoft Office Excel MDXTUPLE Record Heap Overflow Vulnerability - CVE-2010-0260

Microsoft Office Excel MDXSET Record Heap Overflow Vulnerability - CVE-2010-0261

Microsoft Office Excel FNGROUPNAME Record Uninitialized Memory Vulnerability - CVE-2010-0262

Microsoft Office Excel XLSX File Parsing Code Execution Vulnerability - CVE-2010-0263

Microsoft Office Excel DbOrParamQry Record Parsing Vulnerability - CVE-2010-0264

Update Information

Detection and Deployment Tools and Guidance

Security Update Deployment

Other Information

Acknowledgments

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

  • Nicolas Joly of the VUPEN Vulnerability Research Team for reporting the Microsoft Office Excel Record Memory Corruption Vulnerability (CVE-2010-0257)
  • Sean Larsson of VeriSign iDefense Labs for reporting the Microsoft Office Excel Sheet Object Type Confusion Vulnerability (CVE-2010-0258)
  • Sean Larsson of VeriSign iDefense Labs for reporting the Microsoft Office Excel MDXTUPLE Record Heap Overflow Vulnerability (CVE-2010-0260)
  • Sean Larsson of VeriSign iDefense Labs for reporting the Microsoft Office Excel MDXSET Record Heap Overflow Vulnerability (CVE-2010-0261)
  • Sean Larsson of VeriSign iDefense Labs for reporting the Microsoft Office Excel FNGROUPNAME Record Uninitialized Memory Vulnerability (CVE-2010-0262)
  • An anonymous researcher, working with TippingPoint's Zero Day Initiative, for reporting the Microsoft Office Excel XLSX File Parsing Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2010-0263)
  • Damián Frizza of Core Security Technologies for reporting the Microsoft Office Excel DbOrParamQry Record Parsing Vulnerability (CVE-2010-0264)

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 (March 9, 2010): Bulletin published.
  • V1.1 (March 10, 2010): Corrected the severity table to list Microsoft Office Excel 2003 as affected by CVE-2010-0262. Corrected the package file name for Excel 2007. Also corrected the list of affected software in the Executive Summary. These are informational changes only. Customers who have successfully updated their systems do not need to take further action.