Microsoft Security Advisory (960906)

ronjor · Dec 9, 2008

Vulnerability in WordPad Text Converter Could Allow Remote Code Execution

Published: December 9, 2008

Microsoft is investigating new reports of a vulnerability in the WordPad Text Converter for Word 97 files on Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2. Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008 are not affected as these operating systems do not contain the vulnerable code.

Upon completion of this investigation, Microsoft will take the appropriate action to protect our customers, which may include providing a solution through a service pack, our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs.

Mitigating Factors:
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This issue does not affect Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.
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An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less affected than users who operate with administrative user rights.
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The vulnerability cannot be exploited automatically through e-mail. For an attack to be successful, a user must open an attachment that is sent in an e-mail message.
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When Microsoft Office Word is installed, Word 97 documents are by default opened using Microsoft Office Word, which is not affected by this vulnerability. However, an attacker could rename a malicious file to have a Windows Write (.wri) extension, which would still invoke WordPad. This file type can be blocked at the Internet perimeter.
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Microsoft Security Advisory (960906)

ronjor Global Moderator

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Log in or Sign up

Microsoft Security Advisory (960906)

ronjor Global Moderator

Microsoft Security Intelligence Report volume 23 is now available

Google exposes security flaw in Microsoft Edge

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ISC Releases Security Advisories for DHCP, BIND

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