__________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Microsoft Excel Vulnerability Could Allow Remote Code Execution [Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-033] October 12, 2004 20:00 GMT Number P-009 ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: A vulnerability exists in Microsoft Excel. PLATFORM: Microsoft Office 2000 Software Service Pack 3 Microsoft Office 2000 Service Pack 3 Software: -Excel 2000 -Microsoft Office XP Software Service Pack 2 Microsoft Office XP Software: -Excel 2002 -Microsoft Office 2001 for Mac Microsoft Office 2001 for Mac: - Excel 2001 for Mac - Microsoft Office v. X for Mac Microsoft Office v. X for Mac: - Excel v. X for Mac DAMAGE: If a user is logged on with administrative privileges, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system, including installing programs; viewing, changing, or deleting data; or creating new accounts with full privileges. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer privileges on the system would be at less risk than users who operate with administrative privileges. SOLUTION: Apply the available updates. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is MEDIUM. A remote attacker may execute arbitrary ASSESSMENT: code. However, a user must be coerced into visiting a malicious website containing a specially craft file in order to exploit this vulnerability. ______________________________________________________________________________ LINKS: CIAC BULLETIN: http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/p-009.shtml ORIGINAL BULLETIN: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms04-033.mspx CVE/CAN: http://www.cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name= CAN-2004-0846 ______________________________________________________________________________ [***** Start Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-033 *****] Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-033 Vulnerability in Microsoft Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution (886836) Issued: October 12, 2004 Version: 1.0 Vulnerability in Microsoft Excel Could Allow Code Remote Execution Who should read this document: Customers who use Microsoft Excel 2000, Microsoft Excel 2002, Microsoft Excel 2001 for Mac, or Microsoft Excel v. X for Mac Impact of Vulnerability: Remote Code Execution Maximum Severity Rating: Critical Recommendation: Customers should apply the update immediately. Security Update Replacement: MS03-050 Caveats: None Tested Software and Security Update Download Locations: Affected Software: • Microsoft Office 2000 Software Service Pack 3 - Download the update (KB873372) Microsoft Office 2000 Service Pack 3 Software: • Excel 2000 • Microsoft Office XP Software Service Pack 2 - Download the update (KB873366) Microsoft Office XP Software: • Excel 2002 • Microsoft Office 2001 for Mac - Download the update Microsoft Office 2001 for Mac: • Excel 2001 for Mac • Microsoft Office v. X for Mac - Download the update Microsoft Office v. X for Mac: • Excel v. X for Mac Non-Affected Software: • Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3 • Microsoft Office Excel 2003 • Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 1 • Microsoft Excel 2004 for Mac The software in this list has been tested to determine if the versions are affected. Other versions either no longer include security update support or may not be affected. To determine the support lifecycle for your product and version, visit the following Microsoft Support Lifecycle Web site. Top of section General Information Executive Summary Executive Summary: This update resolves a newly-discovered, privately reported vulnerability. A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Excel. The vulnerability is documented in the Vulnerability Details section of this bulletin. If a user is logged on with administrative privileges, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system, including installing programs; viewing, changing, or deleting data; or creating new accounts with full privileges. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer privileges on the system would be at less risk than users who operate with administrative privileges. Severity Ratings and Vulnerability Identifiers: Vulnerability Identifiers : Vulnerability in Microsoft Excel Vulnerability - CAN-2004-0846 Impact of Vulnerability : Remote Code Execution Office 2000 SP3 and Excel 2000 : Critical Office XP SP2 and Excel 2002 : Critical Office 2001 for Mac and Excel 2001 for Mac: Important Office v. X for Mac and Excel v. X for Mac: Important This assessment is based on the types of systems that are affected by the vulnerability, their typical deployment patterns, and the effect that exploiting the vulnerability would have on them. Top of section Frequently asked questions (FAQ) related to this security update Top of section Vulnerability Details Top of section Top of section Top of section Security Update Information Installation Platforms and Prerequisites: For information about the specific security update for your platform, click the appropriate link: Office XP and Excel 2002 Prerequisites and Additional Update Details Important Before you install this update, make sure that the following requirements have been met: • Microsoft Windows Installer 2.0 must be installed. Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2) include Windows Installer 2.0 or later. To install the latest version of the Windows Installer, visit one of the following Microsoft Web sites: Windows Installer 2.0 for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Millennium Edition Windows Installer 2.0 for Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 Top of section Automated Client Installation Information Top of section Manual Client Installation Information Top of section Administrative Installation Information Top of section Top of section Office 2000 and Excel 2000 Top of section Top of section Excel v. X for Mac Top of section Excel 2001 for Mac Top of section Top of section Acknowledgments Microsoft thanks the following for working with us to help protect customers: • Brett Moore of Security-Assessment.com for reporting the Excel Vulnerability (CAN-2004-0846). Obtaining Other Security Updates: Updates for other security issues are available from the following locations: • Security updates are available from the Microsoft Download Center. You can find them most easily by doing a keyword search for "security_patch." • Updates for consumer platforms are available from the Windows Update Web site. Support: • Customers in the U.S. and Canada can receive technical support from Microsoft Product Support Services at 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no charge for support calls that are associated with security updates. • International customers can receive support from their local Microsoft subsidiaries. There is no charge for support that is associated with security updates. For more information about how to contact Microsoft for support issues, visit the International Support Web site. Security Resources: • The Microsoft TechNet Security Web site provides additional information about security in Microsoft products. • Microsoft Software Update Services • Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) • Windows Update • Windows Update Catalog: For more information about the Windows Update Catalog, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 323166. • Office Update Software Update Services: By using Microsoft Software Update Services (SUS), administrators can quickly and reliably deploy the latest critical updates and security updates to Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003-based servers, and to desktop Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional. For more information about how to deploy this security update with Software Update Services, visit the Software Update Services Web site. Systems Management Server: Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) delivers a highly-configurable enterprise solution for managing updates. By using SMS, administrators can identify Windows-based systems that require security updates and to perform controlled deployment of these updates throughout the enterprise with minimal disruption to end users. For more information about how administrators can use SMS 2003 to deploy security updates, see the SMS 2003 Security Patch Management Web site. SMS 2.0 users can also use Software Updates Service Feature Pack to help deploy security updates. For information about SMS, visit the SMS Web site. Note SMS uses the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer and the Microsoft Office Detection Tool to provide broad support for security bulletin update detection and deployment. Some software updates may not be detected by these tools. Administrators can use the inventory capabilities of the SMS in these cases to target updates to specific systems. For more information about this procedure, visit the following Web site. Some security updates require administrative rights following a restart of the system. Administrators can use the Elevated Rights Deployment Tool (available in the SMS 2003 Administration Feature Pack and in the SMS 2.0 Administration Feature Pack) to install these updates. Disclaimer: The information provided in the Microsoft Knowledge Base is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply. Revisions: • V1.0 (October 12, 2004): Bulletin published [***** End Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-033 *****] _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Microsoft for the information contained in this bulletin. _______________________________________________________________________________ CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability, is the computer security incident response team for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the emergency backup response team for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). CIAC is located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. CIAC is also a founding member of FIRST, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, a global organization established to foster cooperation and coordination among computer security teams worldwide. CIAC services are available to DOE, DOE contractors, and the NIH. CIAC can be contacted at: Voice: +1 925-422-8193 (7x24) FAX: +1 925-423-8002 STU-III: +1 925-423-2604 E-mail: ciac@ciac.org Previous CIAC notices, anti-virus software, and other information are available from the CIAC Computer Security Archive. World Wide Web: http://www.ciac.org/ Anonymous FTP: ftp.ciac.org PLEASE NOTE: Many users outside of the DOE, ESnet, and NIH computing communities receive CIAC bulletins. If you are not part of these communities, please contact your agency's response team to report incidents. Your agency's team will coordinate with CIAC. The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) is a world-wide organization. A list of FIRST member organizations and their constituencies can be obtained via WWW at http://www.first.org/. This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor the University of California nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the United States Government or the University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or the University of California, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. 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