Vulnerability Note VU#155563

Microsoft Office Project vulnerable to remote code execution via specially crafted Project file

Microsoft has released an update to address this issue. See Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-018 for more details.

Do not open untrusted Microsoft Office documents

Do not open unfamiliar or unexpected Microsoft Office documents, particularly those hosted on web sites or delivered as email attachments. Please see Cyber Security Tip ST04-010.

Disable automatic opening of Microsoft Office documents

By default, Microsoft Office 97 and Microsoft Office 2000 will configure Internet Explorer to automatically open Microsoft Office documents. This feature can be disabled by using the Office Document Open Confirmation Tool. Mozilla Firefox users should disable automatic opening of files by following the instructions in the Securing Your Web Browser document.

Do not rely on file name extension filtering

In most cases, Windows will call a Microsoft Office application to open a document, even if the document has an unknown file extension. Filtering for common extensions (e.g., .ppt, .xls, and .doc) will not detect all Microsoft Office documents. Additionally, a Microsoft Office file with no file extension will also open with a Microsoft Office application.

Systems Affected

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-018.mspx

Credit

This vulnerability was reported in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-018. Microsoft credits National Cyber Security Center, The Republic of Korea for reporting this Project Memory Validation Vulnerability.

This document was written by Chris Taschner.

Other Information

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us email.