Microsoft office has released an out-of-band update to mitigate the risks posed by the vulnerability CVE-2017-11882.
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Office software when the software fails to properly handle objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take control of the 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.
Exploitation of the vulnerability requires that a user open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Microsoft Office or MS WordPad 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) containing a specially crafted file designed to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit the website. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to click a link, typically by way of an enticement in an email or instant message, and then convince them to open the specially crafted file.
The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how the affected Office component handles objects in memory.
Affected Products
The following software versions or editions are affected.
| Product | Article | Impact | Severity |
| Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 3 | 4011604 | Remote Code Execution | Important |
| Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (32-bit editions) | 4011618 | Remote Code Execution | Important |
| Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (64-bit editions) | 4011618 | Remote Code Execution | Important |
| Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (32-bit editions) | 3162047 | Remote Code Execution | Important |
| Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (64-bit editions) | 3162047 | Remote Code Execution | Important |
| Microsoft Office 2016 (32-bit edition) | 4011262 | Remote Code Execution | Important |
| Microsoft Office 2016 (64-bit edition) | 4011262 | Remote Code Execution | Important |
Workarounds
Disable Equation Editor 3.0
For instructions on disabling the Equation Editor, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 4055535.
Read More – CVE Vulnerability
One Comment
Manish Nair
Thanks for sharing such a nice information on Microsoft Office. It was a helpful blog.