Hackers target unpatched Office flaw
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Zero-day spectre haunts spreadsheets Microsoft has warned of an unpatched vulnerability in its Office productivity suite.â¦
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A flaw in numerous versions of Microsoft Excel is the vulnerability responsible for a number of ongoing attacks, the company confirmed Tuesday -- and the solution recommended is apt to raise hackles with those relying on files in older formats.
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Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser has an unpatched flaw that could allow hackers to hijack, then access, Google Inc. Gmail accounts from public computers, according to  security company Cenzic Inc.
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"Extremely critical flaw" in Microsoft Word 2000, which has no released patch, could lead to remote execution of code.
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(InfoWorld) - With its February security patches now two weeks away, Microsoft is warning of another critical flaw in its Office software. This time Excel is the target. Microsoft confirmed late Friday that its spreadsheet software is vulnerable to a new attack, and said that the problem may affect other Office software as well. The software giant is investigating reports that the flaw is being used by criminals in "very limited," attacks, according to a Microsoft security advisory. This latest flaw affects Microsoft Office 2000, Microsoft Office XP, Microsoft Office 2003, and Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac. Over the past year hackers have increasingly focused on Office applications as a security hole and the attacks based on these flaws are often the same: Criminals send an e-mail that appears legitimate, and trick unsuspecting users into opening a maliciously encoded document. Once the document is opened, attackers are able to install unauthorized software on the victim's system. Microsoft may not have time to patch the Excel flaw in time for its next set of security updates, expected Feb. 13, but, no doubt, it has other Office patches in the works. Over the past few months four similarly critical flaws have been reported in Microsoft Word. None of these has yet been patched.
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In brief Exploit circulating for unpatched vuln
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A new variant of the MyDoom worm that exploits an unpatched flaw in Microsoftâs Internet Explorer browser has emerged to threaten small business and home users in particular, security experts warned this week.
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Attackers have been exploiting a recently-revealed flaw in Adobe Reader since at least Jan. 20, with one security researcher estimating that "many thousands" of computers have been infected so far.
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Not just Windows - Mac too Microsoft has warned of a serious - and as yet unpatched vulnerability - in Word. Hackers (albeit to a limited extent) are exploiting the zero-day flaw in its ubiquitous Office application, Redmond warns.â¦
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Microsoft has issued a patch to fix the security flaw, and urges its customers to use a new utility to locate the computer applications that are vulnerable.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft's Word and Office programs have been targeted again, with the company warning that hackers may already exploiting a new vulnerability found in the applications. The warning comes just afterÂ the company issued fixesÂ for 20 other bugs in its products on Tuesday, including six for Word. The latest problem affects Office 2000 and Office XP, Microsoft said in a security advisory on Wednesday. An attacker could create a specially-crafted Word document that, if opened, could allow them to control a victim's computer remotely. As usual it advised great caution when opening unsolicited attachments. Microsoft said it had received reports of "very limited, targeted" attacks. Danish security vendor SecuniaÂ ranked the problem as "extremely critical." The emergence of a security bug so soon after Microsoft's scheduled patch release follows a familiar pattern by hackers, who want to maximize the amount of time they have to take advantage of a vulnerability, said Thomas Kristensen, Secunia's chief technical officer. Microsoft rarely diverts from its patch schedule, set for the second Tuesday of the month, although it said it would in this case if it considers it necessary. Office applications such as Word are "low-hanging fruit" for hackers, since the programs haven't been audited as much as some others, such as Internet Explorer, Kristensen said. The hackers find a vulnerability by manipulating a document and testing how Word reads it. In this case, a modified document can corrupt system memory in a way that allows the attacker to execute code on the machine remotely. As well as sending the document via email, the hacker could embed it in a Web page and try to lure users into visiting that page. "Attacking using this vector is fairly easy," Kristensen said. However, new security features in Windows Vista, released to the general public last month, may prevent similar types of attack, so hackers may be making an extra effort to exploit them while they can, he said. Â
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A new variant of the Mydoom worm that exploits an unpatched flaw in Microsoft&#39;s Internet Explorer browser is in the wild and posing particular risk to home and small business users, security experts warn.
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A hacker has released attack code that could be used to exploit a critical bug in some versions of the Windows operating system.
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Group of security professionals produces a patch for a flaw in Windows Shell that is being used in cyberattacks.
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Poisoned spreadsheet peril Microsoft has warned that an unpatched vulnerability in older versions of Excel is being actively exploited by hackers.â¦
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Microsoft is warning of a new unpatched vulnerability in its Word software.
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Spreadsheet-focused attack affects several versions of company's Office software, including one for Macs.