Microsoft warns of new Word attack
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(InfoWorld) - There's now one more reason to be careful about opening Microsoft Office attachments. Microsoft warned Tuesday of a new, unpatched memory corruption error in its word-processing software, and said that it was investigating reports of "limited" attacks that exploit the problem. The bug can be exploited by adding a string of characters in a Word file that can corrupt the PC's memory and allow the attacker to run unauthorized software on the system, Microsoft wrote in a security advisory . The bug affects many versions of the software, including Word 2000, 2002, and 2003, the Word Viewer 2003 and several versions of Microsoft Works. It is rated 'critical' by the FrSIRT Web site, which compiles a list of software vulnerabilities. As automatic security updates have become commonplace, attackers have focused more on developing attacks that leverage this kind of unpatched hole in the software, sometimes called 0day attacks. This trend has forced Microsoft to produce a growing number of software updates in recent months. In particular, hackers turned their attention to Microsoft's Office products, which some researchers consider to be a more fruitful source of bugs than the Windows operating system. "Cyber criminals know that 0days are very vulnerable and can be used to make lots of money," said Cesar Cerrudo, chief executive officer of security research firm Argeniss, in Parana, Argentina. These vulnerabilities can be exploited to install spyware or dangerous Trojan horse programs, or to add the victim's computer to a network of compromised PCs, called a botnet, which can then be used to send out spam or attack other systems, he said. Microsoft's next set of security updates is due to be released on December 12.
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A recently detected exploit code foreshadows a likely worm-style attack on Windows machines plagued with the JPEG vulnerability made public last week, security experts said Thursday.
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(InfoWorld) - Hackers have released attack code that exploits a critical vulnerability in Microsoft's Word software -- the thirdÂ such bugÂ to be disclosed in the past week. The proof of concept code was posted Tuesday on the Milw0rm.com Web site, making it widely available to the hacking community. It exploits a previously unreported bug in Word. Like the other recent Word bugs disclosed this past week, it could be used by attackers to run unauthorized software on a victim's computer, said David Marcus, security research and communications manager with McAfee Inc.'s Avert Labs Attackers have been using these Word exploits in extremely targeted attacks, where a small number of victims are sent an e-mail with a maliciously encoded Word document attached. The hackers useÂ social engineeringÂ techniques to try to trick the victim into opening the dangerous attachment. For example, in a recent Word attack, first reported Sunday, the malicious e-mail "was sent to a very high-profile company, directly to three people at the company," Marcus said. Microsoft is investigating reports of this latest Word bug, a spokesman for the company's public relations agency said. Though they are not being widely exploited, the unpatched Word vulnerabilities are causing some enterprises concern. At the Port of Seattle, for example, users are being cautioned and e-mail with Word attachments is getting a little more scrutiny, said Ernie Hayden, chief information security manager with the port. "We've done some blocking on our e-mail, and we've had dialogue with people with respect to what our expectations are," he said. Attacks on Microsoft's Office software have been on the rise for months now, said Marc Maiffret, chief technology officer with security vendor eEye Digital Security Inc. Office vulnerabilities were once released "on a monthly basis," he said. "Now we're at the point were it's almost daily." Still, publishing attack code ultimately works contrary to the interests of the bad guys, he added. "It's kind of disruptive, and it creates a panic," he said. "But all it does is make the industry focus and come up with a resolution."
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Last weekend's disclosure of an alleged security vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2000, exploited by a new version of an old worm, is raising questions over what constitutes the severity of an exploit. Is it the degree to which we know about it, or the number of systems out there it could possibly hurt?
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The latest Microsoft Windows security flaw could result in more harm than usual because the company's system for fixing it could prove too vexing for some PC users to deal with, security experts warned. -washingtonpost.com
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MS Office hijack hi-jinks An unpatched Microsoft Word 2000 vulnerability is being actively exploited by hackers to spread malware.â¦
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Security experts warned on Wednesday that &quot;exploit code&quot; has been released for the critical flaw discovered in the way Windows and other Microsoft products handle JPEG images (see our previous coverage).
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Considered important vulnerabilities that leave users open to attack in Microsoft&#39;s (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows for desktop and server installations, the Redmond
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Microsoft has warned of seven newly found flaws in its software that could allow an attacker to steal data and take over a personal computer running the Windows operating system.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft's Office software is under attack again, this time with anÂ unpatched flaw in the Windows 2000 version of Office 2000 being usedÂ by hackersÂ to run unauthorized software on a victim's computer. Microsoft confirmed on Tuesday that the bug exists, but it would not say when it plans to fix the problem. The critical vulnerability wasÂ first reported by SymantecÂ to users of its DeepSight threat notification service. Attackers are exploiting the flaw by sending malicious Word documents to victims, Symantec said. When these documents are opened, Word is tricked into installing malicious software on the PC. Symantec is calling this malware Trojan.MDropper. Trojan.MDropper installs malicious software on the computer, which in turn installs another Trojan horse program "which turns out to be new variant of Backdoor.Femo," Symantec said in an Web posting. Symantec testers had not been able to exploit the problem on more up-to-date versions of Office or Windows. On Tuesday Microsoft said that the bug was confined to Microsoft Word 2000. Microsoft is investigating the issue and may issue a patch once that investigation is completed, according to the company's public relations agency. Microsoft has spent a lot of timeÂ investigating and patching Office applications this year. Over the past few months there have been several reports concerning very targeted attacks, similar to this latest Office issue. Microsoft's last few security updatesÂ have been filled with patches for Office flaws, many of which had already been used in attacks.
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Security firms have warned that the three new unpatched vulnerabilities, which have been reported in Microsoft Windows systems could pose a grave risk for exploits.
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SEATTLE - Microsoft has warned of seven newly found flaws in its software that could allow an attacker to steal data and take over a personal computer running the Windows operating system.
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Microsoft Corp. warned on Tuesday of  seven newly found flaws in its software that could allow an  attacker to steal data and take over a personal computer  running the Windows operating system.
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Microsoft has confirmed that criminals are e-mailing Word attachments that contain malicious code, with two vulnerabilities in the ubiquitous word-processing software now being exploited.
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(InfoWorld) - There's now one more reason to be careful about opening Microsoft Office attachments. Microsoft warned Tuesday of a new, unpatched memory corruption error in its word-processing software, and said that it was investigating reports of "limited" attacks that exploit the problem. The bug can be exploited by adding a string of characters in a Word file that can corrupt the PC's memory and allow the attacker to run unauthorized software on the system, Microsoft wrote in a security advisory . The bug affects many versions of the software, including Word 2000, 2002, and 2003, the Word Viewer 2003 and several versions of Microsoft Works. It is rated 'critical' by the FrSIRT Web site, which compiles a list of software vulnerabilities. As automatic security updates have become commonplace, attackers have focused more on developing attacks that leverage this kind of unpatched hole in the software, sometimes called 0day attacks. This trend has forced Microsoft to produce a growing number of software updates in recent months. In particular, hackers turned their attention to Microsoft's Office products, which some researchers consider to be a more fruitful source of bugs than the Windows operating system. "Cybercriminals know that 0days are very valuable and can be used to make lots of money," said Cesar Cerrudo, chief executive officer of security research firm Argeniss, in Parana, Argentina. These vulnerabilities can be exploited to install spyware or dangerous Trojan horse programs, or to add the victim's computer to a network of compromised PCs, called a botnet, which can then be used to send out spam or attack other systems, he said. Microsoft's next set of security updates is due to be released on December 12.
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MOICE and sleazy Microsoft's attempts to protect against the growing range of attacks targeting unpatched flaws in its Office application suite are only likely to be partially effective, according to security experts.â¦
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A new variant of the MyDoom worm that exploits an unpatched flaw in Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer (IE) browser is in the wild and posing particular risk to home and small business users, security experts warned this week.