CVE-2010-0815 in Office
Summary
by MITRE
VBE6.DLL in Microsoft Office XP SP3, Office 2003 SP3, 2007 Microsoft Office System SP1 and SP2, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and VBA SDK 6.3 through 6.5 does not properly search for ActiveX controls that are embedded in documents, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted document, aka "VBE6.DLL Stack Memory Corruption Vulnerability."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/13/2021
The CVE-2010-0815 vulnerability represents a critical stack memory corruption flaw within VBE6.DLL, a core component of Microsoft Office's Visual Basic for Applications environment. This vulnerability affects multiple versions of Microsoft Office including XP SP3, Office 2003 SP3, Office 2007 System SP1 and SP2, along with various VBA SDK versions from 6.3 through 6.5. The flaw manifests when the VBE6.DLL component fails to properly validate or search for ActiveX controls embedded within malicious Office documents, creating a pathway for remote code execution attacks. The vulnerability specifically targets the stack memory management within the VBA runtime environment, where improper handling of embedded control references leads to memory corruption that attackers can exploit to gain arbitrary code execution privileges.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the ActiveX control loading mechanism. When Microsoft Office processes documents containing maliciously crafted ActiveX controls, the VBE6.DLL component performs insufficient bounds checking and memory allocation validation during the control discovery process. This flaw creates a condition where attacker-controlled data can overwrite adjacent stack memory locations, potentially allowing execution of malicious code with the privileges of the user running the affected Office application. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and represents a classic example of improper input validation leading to memory corruption. The attack vector operates through social engineering techniques where users open maliciously crafted Office documents that contain specially constructed ActiveX control references designed to trigger the memory corruption during normal document processing operations.
The operational impact of CVE-2010-0815 extends beyond simple code execution to encompass full system compromise capabilities within targeted environments. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability can leverage the arbitrary code execution privilege to install backdoors, steal sensitive data, or establish persistent access to compromised systems. The vulnerability's remote exploitation capability makes it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where users frequently open documents from external sources or email attachments. Organizations running affected Office versions face significant risk of targeted attacks, especially in environments where users have elevated privileges or access to sensitive corporate data. The vulnerability's presence in VBA components also means that attackers can potentially bypass traditional security controls that might not detect malicious ActiveX behavior, as these controls often focus on network-based attacks rather than document-based code injection.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2010-0815 require a multi-layered approach combining immediate patch management with operational security controls. Microsoft released security updates addressing this vulnerability through their regular patch cycles, and organizations should prioritize deployment of the applicable security patches for their affected Office versions. Beyond patching, security teams should implement strict document validation policies that restrict the execution of ActiveX controls and VBA macros in untrusted documents. Network-based controls such as email filtering and web proxy configurations can help prevent users from accessing malicious documents containing the vulnerable ActiveX references. Additionally, user education programs should emphasize the dangers of opening unexpected Office documents and the importance of verifying document sources before execution. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving execution through macros and ActiveX controls, specifically covering T1059.005 for command and scripting interpreter and T1204.002 for user execution. Organizations should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies that restrict the execution of potentially malicious VBA code and ActiveX controls, particularly in high-value targets or environments where the vulnerability cannot be immediately patched.