CVE-2011-2010 in Office
Summary
by MITRE
The Microsoft Office Input Method Editor (IME) for Simplified Chinese in Microsoft Pinyin IME 2010, Office Pinyin SimpleFast Style 2010, and Office Pinyin New Experience Style 2010 does not properly restrict access to configuration options, which allows local users to gain privileges via the Microsoft Pinyin (aka MSPY) IME toolbar, aka "Pinyin IME Elevation Vulnerability."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/12/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-2010 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within Microsoft Office's Input Method Editor components, specifically affecting Simplified Chinese language support implementations. This vulnerability resides in the Microsoft Pinyin IME 2010, Office Pinyin SimpleFast Style 2010, and Office Pinyin New Experience Style 2010 products, which are integral parts of Microsoft Office's internationalization framework. The issue stems from inadequate access controls within the configuration management system of these IME components, creating a security gap that malicious local users can exploit to elevate their system privileges.
The technical flaw manifests through improper restriction of access to sensitive configuration options within the Microsoft Pinyin IME toolbar functionality. When users interact with the IME toolbar, the system fails to properly validate or sanitize the access permissions for underlying configuration settings that control system-level operations. This weakness allows an attacker with local system access to manipulate these configuration parameters in ways that should be restricted to privileged processes only. The vulnerability specifically targets the MSPY IME toolbar component, which serves as the interface between user input and system-level text processing functions within Office applications. According to CWE-264, this represents a permissions weakness where the system fails to properly enforce access controls on sensitive resources, creating an avenue for privilege escalation attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations running affected Microsoft Office versions, as it enables local attackers to gain elevated privileges without requiring administrative credentials. This means that any user who can execute code on a compromised system can potentially escalate their privileges to SYSTEM level access, allowing them to perform actions such as installing malicious software, modifying system files, accessing sensitive data, or creating persistent backdoors. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates within the legitimate Office IME framework, making detection more challenging for security monitoring systems that might not flag normal IME toolbar usage as suspicious behavior. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to establish persistent access to systems, potentially leading to full network compromise through lateral movement and privilege escalation.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate patch management and system hardening measures. Microsoft has released security updates that address this specific privilege escalation flaw by implementing proper access controls and validation mechanisms for the IME configuration options. Organizations should prioritize applying these security patches across all affected systems, particularly those running Microsoft Office 2010 with Pinyin IME components. Additionally, implementing least privilege principles can help minimize the impact of such vulnerabilities by limiting local user permissions and reducing the potential damage from successful exploitation. Network segmentation and monitoring of IME toolbar usage can provide early detection capabilities, while disabling unnecessary IME components can reduce the attack surface. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1068, which describes privilege escalation through local exploit techniques, and demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches for all system components, including language input methods that are often overlooked in security assessments.