Introduction

After a slow start, Microsoft has warmed up to the rest of year by releasing 12 updates for its product line including some of the long disclosed vulnerabilities. I was quite impressed by the way Microsoft quickly released an update for the Excel (MSExcel.h) vulnerability.

Details

Bulletin MS07-005: This update resolves a newly discovered, privately reported vulnerability. The Step-by-Step Interactive Training has a remote code execution vulnerability that could allow an attacker to take complete control of an affected system. 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.

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Step-by-Step Interactive Training because of the way that Step-by-Step Interactive Training handles bookmark link files. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted bookmark link file that could potentially allow remote code execution. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. However, user interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability.

Mitigating Factors: The vulnerability could not be exploited automatically through e-mail. For an attack to be successful, a user must open an attachment that is sent in an e-mail message or must click a link that is provided in an e-mail message.

Bulletin MS07-006: This update resolves a newly discovered, privately reported, vulnerability in Windows Shell that could allow elevation of privilege. A privilege elevation vulnerability exists in Windows Shell in the way that the operating system performs detection and registration of new hardware. This vulnerability could allow an authenticated user to take complete control of the system.

Mitigating Factors: An attacker must have valid logon credentials to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability could not be exploited by anonymous users.
On Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 an attacker would have to have Administrator privileges in order to exploit the vulnerability remotely.

Bulletin MS07-007: This update resolves a newly discovered, privately reported vulnerability in Windows Image Acquisition Service that could allow elevation of privilege via unspecified vectors involving an "unchecked buffer," probably a buffer overflow. 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.

Bulletin MS07-008: This update resolves a newly discovered, privately reported vulnerability in HTML Help ActiveX control that could allow remote code execution. On vulnerable versions of Windows, if a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of the client workstation. 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.

An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Web page that could potentially allow remote code execution if a user visited that page. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. The HTML Help ActiveX control (Hhctrl.ocx) in Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3, XP SP2 and Professional, 2003 SP1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified functions, related to uninitialized parameters.

Mitigating Factors: By default, all supported versions of Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express open HTML e-mail messages in the Restricted sites zone. The Restricted sites zone helps reduce attacks that could try to exploit this vulnerability by preventing Active Scripting and ActiveX controls from being used when reading HTML e-mail. However, if a user clicks on a link within an e-mail they could still be vulnerable to this issue through the Web-based attack scenario.

Bulletin MS07-009: This update resolves a public vulnerability in Microsoft Data Access Components that could allow remote code execution. The Execute method in the ADODB.Connection 2.7 and 2.8 ActiveX control objects (ADODB.Connection.2.7 and ADODB.Connection.2.8) in the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.5 SP3, 2.7 SP1, 2.8, and 2.8 SP1 does not properly track freed memory when the second argument is a BSTR, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (Internet Explorer crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via certain strings in the second and third arguments.

Bulletin MS07-010: This update resolves a newly discovered, privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Malware Protection Engine that could allow remote code execution via Integer overflow in the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine (mpengine.dll), as used by Windows Live OneCare, Antigen, Defender, and Forefront Security, allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted PDF 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.

Bulletin MS07-011: This update resolves a newly discovered, privately reported, vulnerability in Microsoft OLE Dialog that could allow remote code execution. The OLE Dialog component in Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP2, and 2003 SP1 allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via an RTF file with a malformed OLE object that triggers memory corruption. 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. Significant user interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability.

Bulletin MS07-012: This update resolves a newly discovered, privately reported Vulnerability in Microsoft MFC that could allow remote code execution. The MFC component in Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP2, and 2003 SP1 and Visual Studio .NET 2000, 2000 SP1, 2003, and 2003 SP1 allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via an RTF file with a malformed OLE object that triggers memory corruption.
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. Significant user interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability. If a user were 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 affected than users who operate with administrative rights.

Bulletin MS07-013: This update addresses a newly discovered, privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft RichEdit 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. The RichEdit component in Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP2, and 2003 SP1; Office 2000 SP3, XP SP3, 2003 SP2, and Office 2004 for Mac; and Learning Essentials for Microsoft Office 1.0, 1.1, and 1.5 allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a malformed OLE object in an RTF file, which triggers memory corruption. 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 affected than users who operate with administrative user rights.

Bulletin MS07-014: This update resolves several newly discovered, privately and publicly reported Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word 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.

Word Malformed String Vulnerability - CVE-2006-5994: Unspecified vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2000 and 2002, Office Word and Word Viewer 2003, Word 2004 and 2004 v. X for Mac, and Works 2004, 2005, and 2006 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a Word document with a malformed string that triggers memory corruption, a different vulnerability than CVE-2006-6456. A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way Microsoft Word handles Word files with a specially crafted string. Such a specially crafted file might be included as an e-mail attachment or hosted on a malicious Web site. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Word file that could allow remote code execution.

Unspecified vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2000, 2002, and 2003 and Word Viewer 2003 allows remote attackers to execute code via unspecified vectors related to malformed data structures that trigger memory corruption, a different vulnerability than CVE-2006-5994.

Word Malformed Data Structures Vulnerability - CVE-2006-6456: A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way Microsoft Word handles Word files with a specially crafted data structure. Such a specially crafted file might be included as an e-mail attachment or hosted on a malicious Web site. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Word file that could allow remote code execution. Viewing or previewing a malformed e-mail message in an affected version of Outlook could not lead to exploitation of this vulnerability.

Word Count Vulnerability - CVE-2006-6561: A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability when Word parses a file and processes an unchecked count. Such a specially crafted file might be included as an e-mail attachment or hosted on a malicious Web site. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Word file that could allow remote code execution. Viewing or previewing a malformed e-mail message in an affected version of Outlook could not lead to exploitation of this vulnerability. Unspecified vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2000, 2002, and Word Viewer 2003 allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted DOC file that triggers memory corruption, as demonstrated via the 12122006-djtest.doc file, a different issue than CVE-2006-5994 and CVE-2006-6456.

Word Macro Vulnerability – CVE-2007-0208: 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. Microsoft Word in Office 2000 SP3, XP SP3, Office 2003 SP2, Works Suite 2004 to 2006, and Office 2004 for Mac does not correctly check the properties of certain documents and warn the user of macro content, which allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code.

Word Malformed Drawing Object Vulnerability - CVE-2007-0209: A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability when Word parses a file and processes a malformed drawing object. Such a specially crafted file might be included as an e-mail attachment or hosted on a malicious Web site. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Word file that could allow remote code execution. Microsoft Word in Office 2000 SP3, XP SP3, Office 2003 SP2, Works Suite 2004 to 2006, and Office 2004 for Mac allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a Word file with a malformed drawing object, which leads to memory corruption.

Word Malformed Function Vulnerability - CVE-2007-0515: 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. Unspecified vulnerability in Microsoft Word allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on Word 2000, and cause a denial of service on Word 2003, via unknown attack vectors that trigger memory corruption, as exploited by Trojan.Mdropper.W and later by Trojan.Mdropper.X, a different issue than CVE-2006-6456, CVE-2006-5994, and CVE-2006-6561.

Bulletin MS07-015: This update resolves two newly discovered, privately and publicly reported Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office that could allow remote code execution. When using vulnerable versions of Office, if a user were logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could take complete control of the 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.

PowerPoint Malformed Record Memory Corruption Vulnerability - CVE-2006-3877: A remote code execution vulnerability exists in PowerPoint and could be exploited when PowerPoint opened a specially crafted file. Such a file might be included in an e-mail attachment or hosted on a malicious web site. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted PowerPoint file that could allow remote code execution.

If a user were 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 affected than users who operate with administrative user rights.

Excel Malformed Record Vulnerability - CVE-2007-0671: A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Excel and could be exploited when Excel opened a specially crafted file. Such a file might be included in an e-mail attachment or hosted on a malicious web site. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Excel file that could allow remote code execution. Unspecified vulnerability in Microsoft Excel 2000, XP, 2003, and 2004 for Mac, and possibly other Office products, allows remote user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary code via unknown attack vectors, as demonstrated by Exploit-MSExcel.h in targeted zero-day attacks.

If a user were 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 affected than users who operate with administrative user rights.

Bulletin MS07-016: This is a Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer. This update resolves two newly discovered, publicly and privately reported vulnerabilities.

COM Object Instantiation Memory Corruption Vulnerability - CVE-2006-4697: Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01, 6, and 7 uses certain COM objects from Imjpcksid.dll as ActiveX controls, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors. NOTE: this issue might be related to CVE-2006-4193. The remote code execution vulnerability exists due to the way Internet Explorer instantiates COM objects that are not intended to be instantiated in Internet Explorer. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Web page that could potentially allow remote code execution if a user viewed the Web page. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system.

COM Object Instantiation Memory Corruption Vulnerability - CVE-2007-0219: Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01, 6, and 7 uses certain COM objects from (1) Msb1fren.dll, (2) Htmlmm.ocx, and (3) Blnmgrps.dll as ActiveX controls, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different issue than CVE-2006-4697. The remote code execution vulnerability exists due to the way Internet Explorer instantiates COM objects that are not intended to be instantiated in Internet Explorer. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Web page that could potentially allow remote code execution if a user viewed the Web page. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system.

FTP Server Response Parsing Memory Corruption Vulnerability - CVE-2007-0217: The wininet.dll FTP client code in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 and 6 might allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via an FTP server response of a specific length that causes a terminating null byte to be written outside of a buffer, which causes heap corruption.The remote code execution vulnerability exists due to the way Internet Explorer interprets certain responses from FTP servers. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending specially crafted FTP responses in an FTP session to the FTP client included in Internet Explorer. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability 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.