CVE-2010-3237 in Office
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Excel 2002 SP3 and Office 2004 for Mac do not properly validate record information, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Excel document, aka "Merge Cell Record Pointer Vulnerability."
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/26/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-3237 represents a critical buffer overflow condition within Microsoft Excel 2002 SP3 and Office 2004 for Mac applications. This flaw stems from insufficient validation of record information within Excel file formats, creating an exploitable condition that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. The vulnerability specifically affects the parsing of merge cell records within Excel documents, where the application fails to properly validate pointer references during document processing.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the manipulation of Excel file structures through specially crafted merge cell records that contain malformed pointer data. When Excel processes these maliciously constructed documents, the application's internal record validation mechanisms are bypassed, allowing attackers to overwrite memory locations and inject malicious code execution. This represents a classic buffer overflow scenario where the application does not properly bounds-check data structures during file parsing operations, leading to potential code execution in the context of the currently logged-on user.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to organizations relying on legacy Excel installations, particularly in environments where users may encounter untrusted Excel documents through email attachments, file sharing systems, or web downloads. The remote execution capability means that attackers can compromise systems without requiring local access, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where users may inadvertently open malicious documents. The impact extends beyond simple code execution to potential privilege escalation and system compromise, especially when users have administrative privileges.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1059.005 for command and scripting interpreter execution. Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including mandatory security updates from Microsoft, deployment of application whitelisting solutions, and user education regarding suspicious file attachments. Network segmentation and email filtering solutions should be enhanced to prevent delivery of potentially malicious Excel documents to end-user systems.
Microsoft released patches addressing this vulnerability through security updates that corrected the record validation mechanisms within Excel's file parsing routines. The fix involved implementing proper bounds checking for merge cell record pointers and enhancing the overall validation framework for Excel document structures. Organizations should prioritize patch deployment across all affected systems and consider implementing additional security controls such as macro security settings and document validation policies to reduce the attack surface. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any remaining unpatched systems that may be vulnerable to similar exploitation techniques.