CVE-2016-7276 in Office
Summary
by MITRE
Microsoft Office 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Office 2013 SP1, Office for Mac 2011, and Office 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-2016-7276 represents a critical information disclosure flaw affecting multiple versions of Microsoft Office across different platforms including Office 2007 SP3, Office 2010 SP2, Office 2013 SP1, Office for Mac 2011, and Office 2016 for Mac. This vulnerability falls under the category of out-of-bounds read conditions that can be exploited through carefully crafted malicious documents. The flaw specifically manifests when Microsoft Office applications process specially designed files that trigger memory access violations, potentially exposing sensitive data from process memory or causing application instability. Such vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous because they can be leveraged by attackers to extract confidential information or disrupt normal operations through denial of service attacks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within Microsoft Office's document parsing mechanisms. When processing malformed or crafted documents, the applications fail to properly bounds-check memory access operations, leading to out-of-bounds read conditions. This allows attackers to read data from adjacent memory locations that may contain sensitive information such as encryption keys, user credentials, or other confidential data stored in memory. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it can be exploited through social engineering attacks where users are tricked into opening malicious documents, often delivered via email attachments or malicious websites. The out-of-bounds read condition can be triggered during the parsing of specific document elements, particularly those related to structured storage formats or embedded objects within Office documents.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-7276 extends beyond simple information disclosure to include potential system compromise and business disruption. Organizations using affected Office versions face significant risks as attackers can exploit this vulnerability to extract sensitive information from compromised systems, potentially leading to data breaches or credential theft. The denial of service component of this vulnerability can cause Office applications to crash or become unresponsive, disrupting productivity and potentially affecting business operations. This vulnerability is particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where Office applications are extensively used for document creation, collaboration, and business communication. The attack surface is broad due to the widespread adoption of Microsoft Office across organizations, making this vulnerability a prime target for both targeted attacks and mass exploitation campaigns.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-7276 should include immediate deployment of Microsoft security updates and patches released to address this vulnerability. Organizations should implement comprehensive email filtering and attachment scanning solutions to prevent malicious documents from reaching end users. Network-based intrusion detection systems should be configured to monitor for suspicious document-related network traffic patterns. Security awareness training programs should educate users about the risks of opening unexpected attachments and the importance of verifying document sources before opening. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-125 Out-of-bounds Read classification and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter and T1070 Indicator Removal on Host. Organizations should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies to restrict execution of Office applications from untrusted locations and maintain regular vulnerability assessments to identify similar memory corruption issues in other applications. Regular system monitoring and log analysis should be enhanced to detect potential exploitation attempts through anomalous memory access patterns or application crashes.