CVE-2010-1900 in Office Compatibility Pack
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Office Word 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, and 2007 SP2; Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac; Open XML File Format Converter for Mac; Office Word Viewer; Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP2; and Works 9 do not properly handle malformed records in a Word file, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted file, aka "Word Record Parsing Vulnerability."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/22/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-1900 represents a critical memory corruption issue affecting multiple versions of Microsoft Office applications and related compatibility tools. This flaw resides in the document parsing mechanisms of Word processing software, specifically within how these applications handle malformed records in word processing files. The vulnerability affects a broad range of Microsoft Office products including Word 2002 SP3, 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2, Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac, Open XML File Format Converter for Mac, Office Word Viewer, Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats SP2, as well as Works 9. The flaw demonstrates characteristics consistent with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities that can lead to memory corruption and arbitrary code execution. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious Word documents that contain malformed records designed to trigger buffer overflows or other memory corruption conditions during the parsing process.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when a user opens a specially crafted Word file that contains malformed records within the document structure. These malformed records cause the Office application's parsing engine to incorrectly handle memory allocation and data processing, leading to memory corruption that can be leveraged for remote code execution. The vulnerability operates at the file format parsing layer where the application attempts to read and process document records without adequate validation of record boundaries or content integrity. This type of flaw falls under the ATT&CK framework's technique T1203, which involves exploiting software vulnerabilities to gain execution privileges, and specifically demonstrates the pattern of using malformed input to trigger memory corruption in document processing applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple deployment scenarios and user environments, making it particularly dangerous for enterprise networks and organizations. When successfully exploited, the vulnerability can enable attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the affected Office application, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The vulnerability affects both Windows and Mac environments, demonstrating the cross-platform nature of the flaw and the widespread potential impact. Organizations using legacy Office versions or those that have not applied the necessary security patches face significant risk of exploitation, particularly in environments where users regularly open documents from untrusted sources. The denial of service aspect of this vulnerability means that even unsuccessful exploitation attempts can result in application crashes or system instability, potentially disrupting business operations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2010-1900 should focus on immediate patch deployment and operational security measures to reduce attack surface. Microsoft released security updates addressing this vulnerability, and organizations must prioritize applying these patches across all affected Office installations. Network segmentation and email filtering should be implemented to prevent potentially malicious documents from reaching end users, particularly in environments where automatic document opening is enabled. Security awareness training for users regarding suspicious email attachments and document files is essential, as social engineering remains a primary attack vector for exploiting such vulnerabilities. Additionally, implementing application whitelisting policies that restrict execution of untrusted Office documents and configuring Office applications to open files in protected view mode can significantly reduce the risk of exploitation. Organizations should also consider deploying endpoint protection solutions that can detect and block exploitation attempts targeting this specific vulnerability, as the memory corruption characteristics make signature-based detection particularly challenging. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and the potential consequences of running unsupported or unpatched Office versions in enterprise environments.