CVE-2016-3280 in Office
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Word 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, Word 2013 SP1, Word 2013 RT SP1, Word for Mac 2011, Word 2016 for Mac, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, and Word Viewer 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 • 09/01/2022
The Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-3280 represents a critical security flaw affecting multiple versions of Microsoft Word and the Office Compatibility Pack across various platforms. This vulnerability resides within the document parsing mechanisms of Microsoft Office applications, specifically targeting the way these applications handle malformed or specially crafted Office documents. The flaw manifests as a memory corruption issue that can be exploited by remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. The vulnerability affects a wide range of Microsoft Office products including Word 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Word 2010 SP2, Word 2013 SP1, Word 2013 RT SP1, Word for Mac 2011, Word 2016 for Mac, and the Office Compatibility Pack SP3, making it particularly dangerous due to its broad impact across different software versions and operating systems.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of memory allocation and deallocation when processing specific Office document formats such as .doc, .docx, and .rtf files. When an attacker crafts a malicious document containing specially constructed elements, the vulnerable Office application fails to properly validate the document structure before attempting to parse and render it. This leads to memory corruption conditions where the application's memory management routines become compromised, potentially allowing attackers to overwrite critical memory locations or execute malicious code within the context of the targeted user's privileges. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-125 as "Out-of-bounds Read" and CWE-787 as "Out-of-bounds Write," reflecting the memory access violations that occur during document processing. The flaw typically requires user interaction through opening a malicious document, making it susceptible to social engineering attacks where users are tricked into opening seemingly legitimate documents that contain the malicious payload.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-3280 extends far beyond simple code execution, as it provides attackers with a powerful foothold for broader compromise of affected systems. Once successfully exploited, the vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user, potentially leading to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, or deployment of additional malware. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means attackers can deliver malicious documents through email attachments, web downloads, or compromised websites without requiring local access to the target system. This makes it particularly attractive to threat actors conducting large-scale phishing campaigns or targeted attacks. The vulnerability's presence in widely deployed Office applications ensures that successful exploitation can occur across enterprise networks, potentially affecting thousands of users simultaneously. Organizations running affected versions of Microsoft Office are particularly vulnerable, as the attack surface includes not only desktop systems but also mobile devices and cloud-based Office applications that rely on these vulnerable components.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-3280 should encompass multiple layers of defense to address both immediate risks and long-term security posture improvements. Microsoft released security patches and updates for all affected versions, which should be deployed immediately across all systems to remediate the vulnerability. Organizations should implement strict document handling policies that restrict the opening of Office documents from untrusted sources and consider implementing application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized execution of potentially malicious documents. Network-based defenses such as email filtering solutions should be configured to detect and block Office documents with suspicious characteristics or from known malicious senders. The implementation of sandboxing techniques for document processing can provide additional protection by isolating document rendering in a secure environment. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1203 as "Exploitation for Client Execution" and T1059 as "Command and Scripting Interpreter," highlighting the execution and persistence capabilities that attackers can leverage through this flaw. Regular security awareness training for users can help reduce the risk of social engineering attacks that exploit this vulnerability, while continuous monitoring of network traffic for suspicious document-related activities can help detect potential exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider implementing zero-trust network architectures that minimize the impact of successful exploitation by limiting lateral movement and access privileges within the network.