CVE-2015-2380 in Word
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Word 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, Word 2013 SP1, and Word 2013 RT SP1 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted Office document, aka "Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/31/2022
This vulnerability represents a critical memory corruption flaw affecting multiple versions of Microsoft Word and Office applications. The vulnerability arises from insufficient input validation when processing specially crafted Office documents, specifically targeting the memory management mechanisms within the Word application. Attackers can exploit this weakness by embedding malicious code within seemingly legitimate Office documents, which when opened by vulnerable applications trigger unpredictable memory behavior leading to potential code execution or system instability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions where applications fail to properly validate input data before processing. When Microsoft Word encounters malformed document structures, particularly within embedded objects or complex formatting elements, the application's memory allocation and deallocation routines become compromised. This memory corruption can manifest in various ways including stack overflow conditions, heap corruption, or pointer manipulation that allows attackers to overwrite critical memory regions. The vulnerability specifically affects the parsing and rendering engines responsible for handling Office document formats, particularly those involving complex object models and embedded content.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risk to enterprise environments where users frequently open documents from untrusted sources. The remote exploitation capability means that attackers can deliver malicious payloads through email attachments, web downloads, or file sharing platforms without requiring local access to target systems. Successful exploitation can result in complete system compromise, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the logged-on user. The memory corruption nature also provides a pathway for denial of service attacks that can crash Word applications or cause system instability, disrupting business operations and productivity. Organizations with legacy systems running vulnerable versions of Office are particularly at risk as these applications often remain in use despite security updates.
The attack surface for this vulnerability extends beyond simple document opening scenarios, as it can be triggered through various document processing operations including automatic opening of attachments, preview features, and even document conversion processes. This makes traditional security measures such as email filtering less effective since the malicious code is embedded within the document structure itself. Security professionals should consider implementing comprehensive patch management strategies that prioritize updating vulnerable Office installations across all user systems. Additionally, organizations should deploy application whitelisting solutions and configure Office applications to disable automatic opening of potentially malicious content. Network-based protections such as intrusion detection systems and web proxies can provide additional layers of defense by monitoring for suspicious document patterns. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing defense-in-depth strategies to protect against sophisticated attacks targeting common productivity applications. Organizations should also consider implementing user education programs to reduce the risk of social engineering attacks that leverage this vulnerability through phishing campaigns.