Microsoft Office up to 2019 Word code injection

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Microsoft Office 365 Apps for Enterprise/2010 SP2/2013 SP1/2016/2019. This impacts an unknown function of the component Word. Performing a manipulation results in code injection. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2020-1218. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists. Applying a patch is the recommended action to fix this issue.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft Office 365 Apps for Enterprise/2010 SP2/2013 SP1/2016/2019 (Office Suite Software). It has been classified as critical. This affects an unknown functionality of the component Word. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a code injection vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-94. The product constructs all or part of a code segment using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the syntax or behavior of the intended code segment. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

<p>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word software when it fails to properly handle objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could use a specially crafted file to perform actions in the security context of the current user. For example, the file could then take actions on behalf of the logged-on user with the same permissions as the current user.</p> <p>To exploit the vulnerability, a user must open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Microsoft Word software. In an email attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending the specially crafted file to the user and convincing the user to open the file. In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a website (or leverage a compromised website that accepts or hosts user-provided content) that contains a specially crafted file that is designed to exploit the vulnerability. However, an attacker would have no way to force the user to visit the website. Instead, an attacker would have to convince the user to click a link, typically by way of an enticement in an email or Instant Messenger message, and then convince the user to open the specially crafted file.</p> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Microsoft Word handles files in memory.</p>

The weakness was disclosed 09/08/2020 as confirmed security update guide (Website). The advisory is shared at portal.msrc.microsoft.com. The public release has been coordinated in cooperation with Microsoft. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2020-1218. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1059 for this issue. The advisory points out:

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word software when it fails to properly handle objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could use a specially crafted file to perform actions in the security context of the current user. For example, the file could then take actions on behalf of the logged-on user with the same permissions as the current user.

Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. A possible mitigation has been published immediately after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The entry VDB-160914 is pretty similar. If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

• Office Suite Software

Vendor

• Microsoft

Name

• Office

Version

• 365 Apps for Enterprise
• 2010 SP2
• 2013 SP1
• 2016
• 2019

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.microsoft.com/

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Entryinfo

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Discussion