| PROBLEM: | Remote code vulnerabilities exist in the way Excel: 1) processes data validation records when loading Excel files into memory; 2) handles data when importing files into Excel; 3) Style record data when opening Excel files; 4) handles malformed formulas; 5) handles rich text values when loading application data into memory; 6) handles conditional formatting values; and 7) handles macros when opening specially crafted Excel files. |
| PLATFORM: | Excel 2000, 2003 (all editions) Excel 2003 and Excel Viewer 2003 (all editions) Excel 2007 and Excel Compatibility Pack (all editions) Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac |
| DAMAGE: | Remote code execution. |
| SOLUTION: | Upgrade to the appropriate version. |
| VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT: |
The risk is MEDIUM. An attacker could exploit the vulnerabilities by sending malformed files which could be hosted on a specially crafted or compromised Web site, or included as an e-mail attachment. |
REVISION HISTORY:
03/20/2008 - revised S-227 to reflect changes Microsoft has made in MS08-014 where
they added Excel Viewer 2003 Service Pack 3 and Compatibility Pack
Service pack 1 to non-affected software. Added FAQ about re-released
to fix known issues relating to Excel 2003 Service Pack 2 or Service
Pack 3. Updated the file name of the Excel 2003 update executable.
04/17/2008 - revised S-227 to reflect changes Microsoft has made in MS08-014 where
they added an entry to Update FAQ to describe additional security
features included for Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 2.
[***** Start Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS08-014) *****]
Version: 3.1
This security update resolves several privately reported and publicly reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Excel that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Excel file. An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
This security update is rated Critical for Microsoft Office Excel 2000 Service Pack 3 and rated Important for Excel 2002 Service Pack 3, Excel 2003 Service Pack 2, Excel Viewer 2003, Excel 2007, Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats, Office 2004 for Mac, and Office 2008 for Mac. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.
This security update addresses these vulnerabilities by modifying the way that Microsoft Excel performs validations when opening Excel files. For more information about the vulnerability, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) subsection for the specific vulnerability entry under the next section, Vulnerability Information.
This security update also addresses the vulnerability first described in Microsoft Security Advisory 947563.
Recommendation. Microsoft recommends that customers apply the update immediately
Known Issues. Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 949029 documents the currently known issues that customers may experience when they install this security update. The article also documents recommended solutions for these issues.
The software listed here have been tested to determine which versions or editions are affected. Other versions or editions are either past their support life cycle or are not affected. To determine the support life cycle for your software version or edition, visit Microsoft Support Lifecycle.
Affected Software
| Office Suite and Other Software | Component | Maximum Security Impact | Aggregate Severity Rating | Bulletins Replaced by This Update |
Microsoft Office 2000 Service Pack 3 |
Excel 2000 Service Pack 3 |
Remote Code Execution |
Critical |
|
Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3 |
Excel 2002 Service Pack 3 |
Remote Code Execution |
Important |
|
Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 2 |
Excel 2003 Service Pack 2 |
Remote Code Execution |
Important |
|
2007 Microsoft Office System |
Excel 2007 |
Remote Code Execution |
Important |
|
Microsoft Office Excel Viewer 2003 |
|
Remote Code Execution |
Important |
|
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats |
|
Remote Code Execution |
Important |
|
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac |
|
Remote Code Execution |
Important |
|
Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac |
|
Remote Code Execution |
Important |
None |
Non-Affected Software
| Office Suite and Other Software | Component |
Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3 |
Excel 2003 Service Pack 3 |
Microsoft Office Excel Viewer 2003 Service Pack 3 |
|
2007 Microsoft Office System Service Pack 1 |
Excel 2007 Service Pack 1 |
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats Service Pack 1 |
|
Microsoft Works 8.0 |
|
Microsoft Works 8.5 |
|
Microsoft Works 9.0 |
|
Microsoft Works Suite 2005 |
|
Microsoft Works Suite 2006 |
|
|
|
Severity Ratings and Vulnerability Identifiers |
| Vulnerability Severity Rating and Maximum Security Impact by Affected Software | ||||||||
| Affected Software | Excel Data Validation Record Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0111 | Excel File Import Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0112 | Excel Style Record Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0114 | Excel Formula Parsing Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0115 | Excel Rich Text Validation Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0116 | Excel Conditional Formatting Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0117 | Macro Validation Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0081 | Aggregate Severity Rating |
Microsoft Office Excel 2000 Service Pack 3 |
Critical |
Critical |
Critical |
Critical |
Critical |
Critical |
Critical |
Critical |
Microsoft Office Excel 2002 Service Pack 3 |
Important |
None |
Important |
Important |
Important |
Important |
Important |
Important |
Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Service Pack 2 |
Important |
None |
Important |
Important |
Important |
None |
Important |
Important |
Microsoft Office Excel 2007 |
Important |
None |
None |
Important |
None |
None |
None |
Important |
Microsoft Office Excel Viewer 2003 |
Important |
None |
Important |
Important |
Important |
None |
Important |
Important |
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats |
Important |
None |
None |
Important |
Important |
None |
None |
Important |
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac |
Important |
Important |
Important |
Important |
Important |
Important |
Important |
Important |
Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac |
|
Important |
|
|
Important |
Important |
|
Important |
|
|
Excel Data Validation Record Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0111 |
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way Excel processes data validation records when loading Excel files into memory. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a malformed file which could be hosted on a specially crafted or compromised Web site, or included as an e-mail attachment.
To view this vulnerability as a standard entry in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list, see CVE-2008-0111.
Excel File Import Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0112 |
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way Excel handles data when importing files into Excel. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a malformed .slk file which could be hosted on a specially crafted or compromised Web site, or included as an e-mail attachment, and which could then be imported into Excel.
To view this vulnerability as a standard entry in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list, see CVE-2008-0112.
Excel Style Record Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0114 |
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way Excel handles Style record data when opening Excel files. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a malformed file which could be hosted on a specially crafted or compromised Web site, or included as an e-mail attachment.
To view this vulnerability as a standard entry in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list, see CVE-2008-0114
Excel Formula Parsing Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0115 |
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way Excel handles malformed formulas. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a malformed file which could be hosted on a specially crafted or compromised Web site, or included as an e-mail attachment.
To view this vulnerability as a standard entry in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list, see CVE-2008-0115.
Excel Rich Text Validation Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0116 |
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way Excel handles rich text values when loading application data into memory. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a malformed file which could be hosted on a specially crafted or compromised Web site, or included as an e-mail attachment.
To view this vulnerability as a standard entry in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list, see CVE-2008-0116.
Excel Conditional Formatting Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0117 |
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way Excel handles conditional formatting values. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a malformed file which could be hosted on a specially crafted or compromised Web site, or included as an e-mail attachment.
To view this vulnerability as a standard entry in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list, see CVE-2008-0117.
Macro Validation Vulnerability – CVE-2008-0081 |
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way Excel handles macros when opening specially crafted Excel files. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending a malformed file which could be hosted on a specially crafted or compromised Web site, or included as an e-mail attachment.
To view this vulnerability as a standard entry in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list, see CVE-2008-0081.
|
|
Detection and Deployment Tools and Guidance |
Manage the software and security updates you need to deploy to the servers, desktop, and mobile computers in your organization. For more information see the TechNet Update Management Center. The Microsoft TechNet Security Web site provides additional information about security in Microsoft products.
Security updates are available from Microsoft Update, Windows Update, and Office Update. Security updates are also available at the Microsoft Download Center. You can find them most easily by doing a keyword search for "security update."
Finally, security updates can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog. The Microsoft Update Catalog provides a searchable catalog of content made available through Windows Update and Microsoft Update, including security updates, drivers and service packs. By searching using the security bulletin number (such as, “MS07-036”), you can add all of the applicable updates to your basket (including different languages for an update), and download to the folder of your choosing. For more information about the Microsoft Update Catalog, see the Microsoft Update Catalog FAQ.
Detection and Deployment Guidance
Microsoft has provided detection and deployment guidance for this month’s security updates. This guidance will also help IT professionals understand how they can use various tools to help deploy the security update, such as Windows Update, Microsoft Update, Office Update, the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA), the Office Detection Tool, Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), the Extended Security Update Inventory Tool, and the Enterprise Update Scan Tool (EST). For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 910723.
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) allows administrators to scan local and remote systems for missing security updates as well as common security misconfigurations. For more information about MBSA visit Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer Web site.
The following table provides the MBSA detection summary for this security update.
| Software | MBSA 2.0.1 |
Microsoft Office 2000 Service Pack 3 |
No |
Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3 |
Yes |
Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 2 |
Yes |
Microsoft Office Excel Viewer 2003 |
Yes |
2007 Microsoft Office System |
Yes |
Microsoft Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats |
Yes |
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac |
No |
Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac |
No |
For more information about MBSA 2.0.1, see MBSA 2.0 Frequently Asked Questions.
Note For customers using legacy software not supported by MBSA 2.0.1, Microsoft Update, and Windows Server Update Services: please visit Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer and reference the Legacy Product Support section on how to create comprehensive security update detection with legacy tools.
Windows Server Update Services
By using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), administrators can deploy the latest critical updates and security updates for Windows 2000 operating systems and later, Office XP and later, Exchange Server 2003, and SQL Server 2000 to Windows 2000 and later operating systems. For more information about how to deploy this security update using Windows Server Update Services, visit the Windows Server Update Services Web site.
Systems Management Server
The following table provides the SMS detection and deployment summary for this security update.
| Software | SMS 2.0 | SMS 2003 with SUSFP | SMS 2003 with ITMU | SCCM 2007 |
Microsoft Office 2000 Service Pack 3 |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 2 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Microsoft Office Excel Viewer 2003 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
2007 Microsoft Office System |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Microsoft Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac |
No |
No |
No |
No |
For SMS 2.0 and SMS 2003, the SMS SUS Feature Pack (SUSFP), which includes the Security Update Inventory Tool (SUIT), can be used by SMS to detect security updates. SMS SUIT uses the MBSA 1.2.1 engine for detection. For more information about SUIT, visit the following Microsoft Web site. For more information about the limitations of SUIT, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 306460. The SMS SUS Feature Pack also includes the Microsoft Office Inventory Tool to detect required updates for Microsoft Office applications.
For SMS 2003, the SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates (ITMU) can be used by SMS to detect security updates that are offered by Microsoft Update and that are supported by Windows Server Update Services. For more information about the SMS 2003 ITMU, visit the following Microsoft Web site. SMS 2003 can also use the Microsoft Office Inventory Tool to detect required updates for Microsoft Office applications.
System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007 uses WSUS 3.0 for detection of updates. For more information about SCCM 2007 Software Update Management, visit System Center Configuration Manager 2007.
For more information about SMS, visit the SMS Web site.
For more detailed information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 910723: Summary list of monthly detection and deployment guidance articles.
Note If you have used an Administrative Installation Point (AIP) for deploying Office 2000, Office XP or Office 2003, you may not be able to deploy the update using SMS if you have updated the AIP from the original baseline. For more information, see the Office Administrative Installation Point heading in this section.
Office Administrative Installation Point
If you installed your application from a server location, the server administrator must update the server location with the administrative update and deploy that update to your system.
| • | For supported versions of Microsoft Office 2000, see How to Create an Administrative Installation Point. For more information about how to change the source for a client system from an updated administrative installation point to an Office 2000 original baseline source or Service Pack 3 (SP3), see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 932889. |
| • | For supported versions of Microsoft Office XP, see Creating an Administrative Installation Point. For more information on how to change the source for a client system from an updated administrative installation point to an Office XP original baseline source or Service Pack 3 (SP3), see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 922665. |
| • | For supported versions of Microsoft Office 2003, see Creating an Administrative Installation Point. If you have an Administrative Installation Point with a non-supported version of Microsoft Office 2003, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 902349. |
| • | For supported versions of the 2007 Microsoft Office system, see Create a network installation point for the 2007 Office system. |
|
|
Security Update Deployment |
Affected Software
For information about the specific security update for your affected software, click the appropriate section:
Microsoft thanks the following for working with us to help protect customers:
| • | Mike Scott of SAIC for reporting the Macro Validation Vulnerability (CVE-2008-0081) |
| • | Matt Richard of VeriSign for reporting the Macro Validation Vulnerability (CVE-2008-0081) |
| • | Greg MacManus of iDefense Labs for reporting the Excel Data Validation Record Vulnerability (CVE-2008-0111) |
| • | Yoshiya Sasaki of JFE Systems for reporting the Excel File Import Vulnerability (CVE-2008-0112) |
| • | Bing Liu of Fortinet for reporting the Excel Style Record Vulnerability (CVE-2008-0114) |
| • | iDefense Labs for reporting the Excel Formula Parsing Vulnerability (CVE-2008-0115) |
| • | Cody Pierce of TippingPoint DVLabs for reporting the Excel Rich Text Validation Vulnerability (CVE-2008-0116) |
| • | Moti Joseph and Dan Hubbard of Websense Security Labs for reporting the Excel Conditional Formatting Vulnerability (CVE-2008-0117) |
| • | Customers in the U.S. and Canada can receive technical support from Microsoft Product Support Services at 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no charge for support calls that are associated with security updates. |
| • | International customers can receive support from their local Microsoft subsidiaries. There is no charge for support that is associated with security updates. For more information about how to contact Microsoft for support issues, visit the International Support Web site. |
The information provided in the Microsoft Knowledge Base is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply.
| • | V1.0 (March 11, 2008): Bulletin published. |
| • | V1.1 (March 12, 2008): Bulletin updated. FAQ added to clarify the reason why a non-vulnerable version of Office will be offered this update. |
| • | V2.0 (March 13, 2008): Bulletin updated. FAQ added about known issues relating to users of Excel 2003 Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3. |
| • | V3.0 (March 19, 2008): Bulletin updated. Added Excel Viewer 2003 Service Pack 3 and Compatibility Pack Service Pack 1 to non-affected software. Added FAQ about re-release to fix known issues relating to Excel 2003 Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3. Updated the file name of the Excel 2003 update executable. |
| • | V3.1 (April 16, 2008): Bulletin updated: Added entry to Update FAQ to describe additional security features included for Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 2. |
[***** End Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS08-014) *****]
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