Security researcher uncovers two Office XP flaws

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.itworld.com/App/334/020402xpflaws/

ITworld.com 
Sam Costello, 
IDG News Service, 
Boston Bureau
4/2/02 

Two new security flaws in Microsoft Corp.'s Office XP productivity
suite could be combined to allow attackers to take over a system,
according to independent security researcher Georgi Guninski

Guninski sent an advisory about the issues to security e-mail lists
and posted it on his Web site Monday.

The first vulnerability, which affects Outlook XP, would allow an
attacker to embed "active" content in an e-mail, he wrote. Active
content contains both an object and a script. The content embedded in
the e-mail would then execute when the e-mail is forwarded or replied
to, wrote Guninski, who has uncovered a number of vulnerabilities in
Microsoft products in the past. The vulnerability could force a user
to visit a Web page designated by the attacker, Guninski wrote.

The second security hole, which affects the spreadsheet component of
Office XP, can be used in conjunction with the first vulnerability to
place executable files in a user's start-up directory, which could
lead to a takeover of the target machine, he wrote.

Guninski, who lives in Bulgaria, included sample code in his advisory
to demonstrate how to exploit both vulnerabilities.

Guninski wrote that he notified Microsoft of the bugs on March 17, but
that the company did not produce a patch in two weeks, triggering his
advisory. In the past, Microsoft has criticized Guninski for releasing
his vulnerability data too quickly, calling his actions
"irresponsible."

Work-arounds for the vulnerability include disabling all "active"  
content in Internet Explorer (which is used by parts of Outlook) and
fully deleting the spreadsheet component of Office XP. Guninski also
wrote that "the solution is to get a real mail client and office
applications."



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