CVE-2015-1760 in Office
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Office 2013 SP1, and Office 2013 RT SP1 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted Office document, aka "Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/20/2022
The Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-1760 represents a critical security flaw affecting multiple versions of Microsoft Office including the Compatibility Pack SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Office 2013 SP1, and Office 2013 RT SP1. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-125 vulnerability type, which specifically addresses out-of-bounds read conditions that can lead to memory corruption and arbitrary code execution. The flaw manifests when Microsoft Office applications process specially crafted Office documents, creating a scenario where attackers can manipulate memory structures to execute malicious code remotely without user interaction.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the improper handling of memory allocation and deallocation within Microsoft Office's document processing libraries. When a maliciously crafted Office document is opened, the application's parsing routines fail to properly validate input data structures, leading to memory corruption that can be leveraged by attackers to overwrite critical memory locations. This memory corruption allows adversaries to inject and execute arbitrary code within the context of the affected Office application, potentially gaining full control over the compromised system. The vulnerability specifically targets the Office document parser's handling of certain file format elements that trigger memory allocation errors during document rendering.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-1760 is severe and far-reaching within enterprise environments where Microsoft Office is extensively deployed. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability through various attack vectors including email attachments, web downloads, and malicious Office documents hosted on compromised websites. The remote execution capability means that successful exploitation does not require physical access to the target system, making it particularly dangerous for organizations with distributed workforces or those that frequently process external Office documents. The vulnerability can be exploited in phishing campaigns where attackers send carefully crafted Office documents designed to trigger the memory corruption when opened by unsuspecting users, potentially leading to complete system compromise and data exfiltration.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including applying the official Microsoft security patches released in May 2015 as part of the security update cycle. Network administrators should consider implementing email filtering solutions that can detect and block suspicious Office document attachments, particularly those with executable content or unusual file extensions. The vulnerability's classification under ATT&CK technique T1204.002 (User Execution: Malicious File) highlights the importance of user awareness training to prevent accidental execution of malicious documents. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing application whitelisting policies that restrict the execution of Office applications in high-risk environments and deploy endpoint protection solutions that can detect anomalous memory access patterns indicative of exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing defense-in-depth strategies to protect against memory corruption exploits that can lead to complete system compromise.