Vulnerability Note VU#406236

Microsoft Publisher does not adequately validate Publisher documents

Overview

Microsoft Publisher does not adequately validate Publisher documents. This results in a buffer overflow vulnerability that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Publisher.

I. Description

Microsoft Publisher does not adequately validate strings within Publisher documents. Based on CT12-09-2006-2, the strings may be related to font information. The inadequate validation could allow a buffer overflow to occur. This vulnerability could be triggered when a user opens a specially crafted Publisher document.

II. Impact

By convincing a user to open a specially crafted Publisher document, a remote, unauthenticated attacker could execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Publisher.

III. Solution

Apply Updates

Apply the appropriate updates (910729) referenced by Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-054. Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 910729 describes known issues that may be caused by applying the updates. Specifically, updated versions of Publisher are no longer able to open Publisher 2.0 files.

Do not open untrusted documents

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

Do not rely on file name extension filtering

In most cases, Windows will call Publisher to open a document even if the document has an unknown file extension. For example, if document.qwer contains the correct file header information, Windows will open document.qwer with Publisher. Filtering for common extensions (e.g., .pub, .doc, .dot, .rtf) may not detect all Publisher documents.

Systems Affected

Vendor	Status	Date Notified	Date Updated
Microsoft Corporation	Vulnerable	12-Sep-2006

References

http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA06-255A.html
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms06-054.mspx
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924685
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894540/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894541/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894542/
http://www.computerterrorism.com/research/ct12-09-2006-2.htm

Credit

This vulnerability was reported by Microsoft, who in turn credit Stuart Pearson of Computer Terrorism.

This document was written by Art Manion.

Other Information

Date Public:	2006-09-12
Date First Published:	2006-09-12
Date Last Updated:	2006-09-15
CERT Advisory:
CVE-ID(s):	CVE-2006-0001
NVD-ID(s):	CVE-2006-0001
US-CERT Technical Alerts:
Metric:	7.34
Document Revision:	13

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Produced 2006 by US-CERT, a government organization
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