CVE-2016-7264 in Office
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Excel 2007 SP3, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Excel Viewer, Excel for Mac 2011, and Excel 2016 for Mac allow remote attackers to obtain sensitive information from process memory or cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) via a crafted document, aka "Microsoft Office Information Disclosure Vulnerability."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/08/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-7264 represents a critical information disclosure flaw affecting multiple Microsoft Excel versions across different platforms including Excel 2007 SP3, Office Compatibility Pack SP3, Excel Viewer, Excel for Mac 2011, and Excel 2016 for Mac. This vulnerability falls under the category of out-of-bounds read conditions that can be exploited by remote attackers to either extract sensitive data from process memory or trigger denial of service conditions within the affected applications. The flaw specifically manifests when these Excel implementations process specially crafted malicious documents that contain malformed data structures designed to trigger memory access violations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within Excel's document parsing mechanisms. When processing malformed spreadsheet files, the application fails to properly bounds-check array accesses or validate data structure integrity, leading to memory access patterns that extend beyond allocated buffer boundaries. This condition creates opportunities for attackers to craft documents that, when opened by vulnerable Excel versions, cause the application to read memory locations containing sensitive information such as credentials, encryption keys, or other confidential data that may have been stored in adjacent memory regions. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the memory level rather than through network-based attacks, making it more difficult to detect and prevent through traditional network security measures.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-7264 extends beyond simple information disclosure to include potential system compromise and service disruption. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability could gain access to sensitive corporate data, user credentials, or proprietary information stored in memory during Excel processing operations. The out-of-bounds read condition also creates opportunities for denial of service scenarios that could prevent legitimate users from accessing critical spreadsheet data, potentially disrupting business operations and productivity. Organizations relying on Excel for data processing and analysis face significant risk exposure, particularly in environments where sensitive financial, medical, or personal information is handled. The vulnerability affects both desktop and mobile versions of Excel, amplifying the potential attack surface and making it more challenging to maintain comprehensive security coverage across all endpoints.
Microsoft addressed this vulnerability through security updates that included enhanced input validation mechanisms and improved memory access controls within Excel's document processing engine. The remediation efforts focused on strengthening bounds checking procedures and implementing more robust error handling for malformed data structures. Security professionals should prioritize applying these patches across all affected Excel installations and consider implementing additional protective measures such as application whitelisting, email filtering for suspicious document attachments, and network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts. Organizations should also conduct vulnerability assessments to identify any systems that may not have received the necessary updates, particularly in legacy environments where patch deployment may be delayed or incomplete.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions in software implementations, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1059.005 for command and scripting interpreter usage in information gathering scenarios. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal privileges and can be executed through social engineering tactics targeting end users to open malicious documents, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where users may inadvertently open compromised files. The information disclosure aspect of this vulnerability also relates to ATT&CK technique T1003 for credential access, as extracted memory content could contain authentication tokens or other sensitive credentials. Organizations should implement comprehensive security awareness training programs to reduce the risk of successful exploitation through user interaction with malicious documents.