CVE-2012-1894 in Office
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 uses world-writable permissions for the "Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/" directory and certain other directories, which allows local users to gain privileges by placing a Trojan horse executable file in one of these directories, aka "Office for Mac Improper Folder Permissions Vulnerability."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/02/2025
The vulnerability described in CVE-2012-1894 represents a critical privilege escalation issue affecting Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 installations. This flaw stems from improper directory permissions that create exploitable conditions within the application's installation structure. The affected directories, specifically the "Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/" directory and related components, are configured with world-writable permissions, meaning any local user can modify or create files within these locations. This configuration directly violates fundamental security principles of least privilege and proper access control implementation.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through a Trojan horse attack vector where malicious actors place executable files in the compromised directories. When Microsoft Office applications attempt to execute or load components from these world-writable locations, the system will execute the malicious payload with elevated privileges. This represents a classic privilege escalation vulnerability where local users can leverage weak permissions to gain higher-level system access. The flaw operates under the principle of path traversal and dynamic loading of executables, allowing attackers to inject malicious code that executes with the privileges of the target application.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a significant security risk for Mac environments running Microsoft Office 2011. Local users who might not have administrative privileges can potentially elevate their access level to gain system-level control. The attack surface is particularly concerning because Microsoft Office applications frequently run with elevated privileges during normal operation, making the exploitation of this vulnerability especially dangerous. The vulnerability affects the broader attack surface by enabling persistence mechanisms and providing a foothold for further attacks within the compromised system.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-732, which specifically addresses incorrect permissions for critical resources, and represents a failure in proper privilege separation. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this under privilege escalation techniques, specifically leveraging weak permissions and misconfigurations to gain elevated access. Security professionals should note that this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper permission modeling and the principle of least privilege in application design. The flaw also relates to the broader category of insecure configuration issues that frequently appear in enterprise environments where applications are not properly secured against local privilege escalation attacks. Organizations should implement comprehensive permission auditing to identify and remediate similar issues in other applications and system components. The vulnerability underscores the necessity of regular security assessments and proper configuration management practices to prevent attackers from exploiting weak access controls in legitimate software installations.
The remediation approach for this vulnerability requires immediate implementation of proper directory permissions, ensuring that critical application directories are not world-writable. System administrators should conduct thorough permission audits across all Microsoft Office installations and apply necessary fixes to restore appropriate access controls. This includes setting restrictive permissions on the affected directories and ensuring that only authorized users or processes can modify these locations. Regular security updates and patches from Microsoft should be applied promptly to address such configuration vulnerabilities. Additionally, monitoring and alerting systems should be implemented to detect unauthorized modifications to critical application directories, providing early warning capabilities for potential exploitation attempts.