__________________________________________________________ The U.S. Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability ___ __ __ _ ___ / | /_\ / \___ __|__ / \ \___ __________________________________________________________ INFORMATION BULLETIN Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel [Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-037 (917285)] July 12, 2006 18:00 GMT Number Q-242 ______________________________________________________________________________ PROBLEM: A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Excel. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Excel file that could allow remote code execution. PLATFORM: Microsoft Excel 2003 Microsoft Excel Viewer 2003 Microsoft Excel 2002 Microsoft Excel 2000 Microsoft Excel 2004 for Mac Microsoft Excel v. X for Mac DAMAGE: When using vulnerable versions of Office, if a user were logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of the client workstation. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. SOLUTION: Apply current patches. ______________________________________________________________________________ VULNERABILITY The risk is MEDIUM. If a user were logged on with ASSESSMENT: administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of the client workstation. ______________________________________________________________________________ LINKS: CIAC BULLETIN: http://www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/q-242.shtml ORIGINAL BULLETIN: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS06-037.mspx CVE: http://www.cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name= CVE-2006-1301 CVE-2006-1302 CVE-2006-1304 CVE-2006-1306 CVE-2006-1308 CVE-2006-1309 CVE-2006-2388 CVE-2006-3059 ______________________________________________________________________________ [***** Start Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-037 (917285) *****] Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-037 Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution (917285) Published: July 11, 2006 Version: 1.0 Summary Who Should Read this Document: Customers who use Microsoft Excel Impact of Vulnerability: Remote Code Execution Maximum Severity Rating: Critical Recommendation: Customers should apply the update immediately Security Update Replacement: This bulletin replaces a prior security update. See the frequently asked questions (FAQ) section of this bulletin for the complete list. Caveats: None Tested Software and Security Update Download Locations: Affected Software: • Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 • Microsoft Excel 2003 — Download the update (KB918419) • Microsoft Excel Viewer 2003 - Download the update (KB918425) • Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3 • Microsoft Excel 2002 — Download the update (KB918420) • Microsoft Office 2000 Service Pack 3 • Microsoft Excel 2000 — Download the update (KB918424) • Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac • Microsoft Excel 2004 for Mac - Download the update (KB921213) • Microsoft Office v. X for Mac • Microsoft Excel v. X for Mac - Download the update (KB921214) The software in this list has been tested to determine whether the versions are affected. Other versions either no longer include security update support or may not be affected. To determine the support life cycle for your product and version, visit the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Web site. Top of sectionTop of section General Information Executive Summary This update resolves several newly discovered, privately reported and public vulnerabilities. Each vulnerability is documented in this bulletin in its own "Vulnerability Details" section. When using vulnerable versions of Office, if a user were logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of the client workstation. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. We recommend that customers apply the update immediately Severity Ratings and Vulnerability Identifiers: Vulnerability Identifiers Impact of Vulnerability Microsoft Excel 2003 and Excel Viewer 2003 Microsoft Excel 2002 Microsoft Excel 2000 Microsoft Excel 2004 for Mac and Microsoft Excel v. X for Mac Microsoft Excel Malformed SELECTION record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1301 Remote Code Execution Important Important Critical Important Microsoft Excel Malformed SELECTION record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1302 Remote Code Execution Important Important Critical Important Microsoft Excel Malformed COLINFO record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1304 Remote Code Execution Important Important Critical Important Microsoft Excel Malformed OBJECT record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1306 Remote Code Execution Important Important Critical Important Microsoft Excel Malformed FNGROUPCOUNT value Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1308 Remote Code Execution Important Important Critical Important Microsoft Excel Malformed LABEL record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1309 Remote Code Execution Important Important Critical Important Microsoft Excel Malformed File Vulnerability – CVE-2006-2388 Remote Code Execution Important Important Critical Important Microsoft Excel Malformed File Vulnerability – CVE-2006-3059 Remote Code Execution Important Important Critical Important Aggregate Severity of All Vulnerabilities Important Important Critical 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 sectionTop of section Vulnerability Details Microsoft Excel Malformed SELECTION record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1301 A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Excel that results from the processing of a malformed SELECTION record. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Excel file that could allow remote code execution. If a user were logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less affected than users who operate with administrative user rights. Mitigating Factors for Microsoft Excel Malformed SELECTION record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1301: • An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. • On Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003, the vulnerability could not be exploited automatically through e-mail. For an attack to be successful a user must accept a prompt confirming that they Open, Save or Cancel the attachment that is sent in an e-mail message before the exploit could occur. • In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit these Web sites. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade users to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or instant messenger message that takes users to the attacker's Web site. Note Office 2000 does not prompt the user to Open, Save, or Cancel before opening a document. Top of sectionTop of section Microsoft Excel Malformed SELECTION record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1302 A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Excel that results from processing of a malformed SELECTION record. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Excel file that could allow remote code execution. If a user were logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less affected than users who operate with administrative user rights. Mitigating Factors for Microsoft Excel Malformed SELECTION record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1302: • An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. • On Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003, the vulnerability could not be exploited automatically through e-mail. For an attack to be successful a user must accept a prompt confirming that they Open, Save or Cancel the attachment that is sent in an e-mail message before the exploit could occur. • In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit these Web sites. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade users to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or instant messenger message that takes users to the attacker's Web site. Note Office 2000 does not prompt the user to Open, Save, or Cancel before opening a document. Top of sectionTop of section Microsoft Excel Malformed COLINFO record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1304 A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Excel that results from processing of a malformed COLINFO record. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Excel file that could allow remote code execution. If a user were logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less affected than users who operate with administrative user rights. Mitigating Factors for Microsoft Excel Malformed COLINFO record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1304 • An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. • On Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003, the vulnerability could not be exploited automatically through e-mail. For an attack to be successful a user must accept a prompt confirming that they Open, Save or Cancel the attachment that is sent in an e-mail message before the exploit could occur. • In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit these Web sites. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade users to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or instant messenger message that takes users to the attacker's Web site. Note Office 2000 does not prompt the user to Open, Save, or Cancel before opening a document. Top of sectionTop of section Microsoft Excel Malformed OBJECT Record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1306 A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Excel that results from processing of a malformed OBJECT record. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Excel file that could allow remote code execution. If a user were logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less affected than users who operate with administrative user rights. Mitigating Factors for Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Using a Malformed OBJECT Record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1306: • An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. • On Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003, the vulnerability could not be exploited automatically through e-mail. For an attack to be successful a user must accept a prompt confirming that they Open, Save or Cancel the attachment that is sent in an e-mail message before the exploit could occur. • In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit these Web sites. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade users to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or instant messenger message that takes users to the attacker's Web site. Note Office 2000 does not prompt the user to Open, Save, or Cancel before opening a document. Top of sectionTop of section Microsoft Excel Malformed FNGROUPCOUNT Value Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1308 A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Excel that results from the processing of a malformed FNGROUPCOUNT value file. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Excel file that could allow remote code execution. If a user were logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less affected than users who operate with administrative user rights. Mitigating Factors for Microsoft Excel Malformed FNGROUPCOUNT Value Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1308: • An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. • On Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003, the vulnerability could not be exploited automatically through e-mail. For an attack to be successful a user must accept a prompt confirming that they Open, Save or Cancel the attachment that is sent in an e-mail message before the exploit could occur. • In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit these Web sites. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade users to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or instant messenger message that takes users to the attacker's Web site. Note Office 2000 does not prompt the user to Open, Save, or Cancel before opening a document. Top of sectionTop of section Microsoft Excel Malformed LABEL record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1309 A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Excel that results from the processing of a malformed LABEL record file. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Excel file that could allow remote code execution. Mitigating Factors for Microsoft Malformed LABEL record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1309: • An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. • On Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003, the vulnerability could not be exploited automatically through e-mail. For an attack to be successful a user must accept a prompt confirming that they Open, Save or Cancel the attachment that is sent in an e-mail message before the exploit could occur. • In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit these Web sites. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade users to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or instant messenger message that takes users to the attacker's Web site. Note Office 2000 does not prompt the user to Open, Save, or Cancel before opening a document. Top of sectionTop of section Microsoft Excel Rebuilding Vulnerability - CVE-2006-2388 A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Excel that results from the processing of a malformed file. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Excel file that could allow remote code execution. Mitigating Factors for Microsoft Excel Rebuilding Vulnerability - CVE-2006-2388: • An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. • On Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003, the vulnerability could not be exploited automatically through e-mail. For an attack to be successful a user must accept a prompt confirming that they Open, Save or Cancel the attachment that is sent in an e-mail message before the exploit could occur. • In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit these Web sites. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade users to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or instant messenger message that takes users to the attacker's Web site. Note Office 2000 does not prompt the user to Open, Save, or Cancel before opening a document. Top of sectionTop of section Microsoft Excel Malformed file Vulnerability - CVE-2006-3059 A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Excel that results from the processing of a malformed file. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by constructing a specially crafted Excel file that could allow remote code execution. Mitigating Factors for Microsoft Excel Using a Malformed file Vulnerability - CVE-2006-3059: • An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. • On Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003, the vulnerability could not be exploited automatically through e-mail. For an attack to be successful a user must accept a prompt confirming that they Open, Save or Cancel the attachment that is sent in an e-mail message before the exploit could occur. • In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. In addition, compromised Web sites and Web sites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements could contain specially crafted content that could exploit this vulnerability. In all cases, however, an attacker would have no way to force users to visit these Web sites. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade users to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link in an e-mail message or instant messenger message that takes users to the attacker's Web site. Note Office 2000 does not prompt the user to Open, Save, or Cancel before opening a document. Top of sectionTop of section Acknowledgments Microsoft thanks the following for working with us to help protect customers: • Posidron for reporting Microsoft Excel Malformed SELECTION record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1301. • NSFocus Security Team for reporting the Microsoft Excel Malformed SELECTION record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1302. • NSFocus Security Team for reporting the Microsoft Excel Malformed COLINFO record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1304. • Arnaud Dovi for reporting the Microsoft Malformed OBJECT record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1306. • iDEFENSE for reporting the Microsoft Excel Malformed OBJECT record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1306. • Sowhat of Nevis Labs for reporting the Microsoft Excel Malformed OBJECT record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1306. • Xin Ouyang of Nevis Networks for reporting the Microsoft Office Malformed FNGROUPCOUNT value Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1308. • Shaun Colley of NGSS Consulting for reporting the Microsoft Office Malformed LABEL record Vulnerability - CVE-2006-1309. • Arnaud Dovi working with Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) and TippingPoint for reporting the Microsoft Excel Rebuilding Vulnerability – CVE-2006-2388. • Costin Ionescu of Symantec for reporting the Microsoft Excel Malformed file Vulnerability - CVE-2006-3059. Obtaining Other Security Updates: Updates for other security issues are available at the following locations: • Security updates are available at the Microsoft Download Center. You can find them most easily by doing a keyword search for "security_patch." • Updates for consumer platforms are available at the Microsoft 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 Windows Server Update Services • Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) • Windows Update • Microsoft 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 systems that are running Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional. For more information about how to deploy security updates by using Software Update Services, visit the Software Update Services Web site. Windows Server Update Services: By using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), administrators can quickly and reliably deploy the latest critical updates and security updates for Windows 2000 operating systems and later, Office XP and later, Exchange Server 2003, and SQL Server 2000 onto Windows 2000 and later operating systems. For more information about how to deploy security updates using Windows Server Update Services, visit the Windows Server 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 can 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, visit 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, the Microsoft Office Detection Tool, and the Enterprise Update Scanning 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 (July 11, 2006): Bulletin published. Top of pageTop of page [***** End Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-037 (917285) *****] _______________________________________________________________________________ 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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