CVE-2016-7230 in Office
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 SP2, PowerPoint Viewer, and Office Web Apps 2010 SP2 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 • 09/30/2022
This vulnerability represents a critical memory corruption flaw in Microsoft Office PowerPoint applications that affects versions including PowerPoint 2010 SP2, PowerPoint Viewer, and Office Web Apps 2010 SP2. The issue stems from improper handling of specially crafted Office documents that contain malformed data structures, leading to unpredictable memory behavior during document parsing and rendering operations. When a user opens or previews such a malicious document, the application's memory management mechanisms become compromised, creating opportunities for attackers to inject and execute arbitrary code within the context of the running PowerPoint process.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through careful manipulation of Office document formats, particularly targeting the way PowerPoint handles various data elements during file parsing. Attackers craft documents containing malformed binary data that triggers buffer overflows or other memory corruption conditions when processed by the vulnerable software components. This type of vulnerability typically falls under CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, or CWE-122, which covers heap-based buffer overflow scenarios, both of which are common in Office application exploits. The attack vector leverages the principle of privilege escalation through application execution, where a user's normal privileges are elevated to system-level access through the exploitation of memory corruption vulnerabilities.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risk to enterprise environments where Office documents are frequently shared and opened by multiple users. The attack requires social engineering to convince users to open malicious documents, but once executed, it provides attackers with complete control over the affected system. The impact extends beyond individual user compromise to potentially enable lateral movement within networks, as attackers can establish persistence and escalate privileges to gain access to additional systems. The vulnerability's remote execution capability means that attackers can deliver malicious documents through email attachments, web downloads, or other network-based attack vectors without requiring physical access to target systems.
The exploitation of CVE-2016-7230 aligns with several tactics described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework, particularly those related to initial access through spearphishing with malicious attachments and execution via Office applications. The vulnerability supports techniques such as process injection and code injection, where attackers can leverage the memory corruption to inject malicious payloads directly into running processes. Security professionals should consider implementing multiple layers of defense including email filtering, application whitelisting, and regular security updates to mitigate this risk. Organizations should also conduct regular security awareness training to reduce the likelihood of successful social engineering attacks that exploit this vulnerability, as user behavior remains a critical factor in successful exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of keeping Office applications updated with the latest security patches, as Microsoft released specific fixes for this issue in subsequent security updates.