Vulnerability: MS10-003 - Vulnerability in Microsoft Office (MSO) Could Allow Remote Code Execution (978214)

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	Details
Vulnerability name/brief description	MS10-003 - Vulnerability in Microsoft Office (MSO) Could Allow Remote Code Execution (978214)
CVE/CAN name	CVE-2010-0243
Vendor threat level	Important
SophosLabs threat level	Medium
Solution	MS10-003
Vendor description	This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Office that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Office file. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability 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.
SophosLabs comments	The most common attack vector for vulnerabilities such as this one is the malicious email attachment, which we still see daily in our spam feeds. Vigilance on the part of users is an essential part of not succumbing to these attacks. This vulnerability is not known to have been publicly reported prior to the release of the patch, and it is this coupled with the fact that we are unaware of seeing any attempted exploits that leads us to assigning this vulnerability a threat level of medium.
SophosLabs testing result	N/A
Currently known exploits	At the time of writing SophosLabs have not observed any malware attempting to exploit this vulnerability. Should this situation change samples will be analyzed and we will take action as necessary.
First sample seen	N/A
Discovery date	9 February 2010
Affected software	Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3 Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac
References	http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS10-003.mspx http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2010-0243
Credits	MAPP
Revisions	9 February 2010 - Initial analysis written

Explanation of terms

Vulnerability Name/Brief Description:
Vendor identifier plus a brief description of the type of attack.

CVE/CAN Name:
Currently assigned CVE name. If a CVE name doesn't exist the CAN name will be used until a CVE has been assigned.

Vendor Threat Level:
Threat level assigned by the vendor

SophosLabs Threat Level:
Threat level assigned by SophosLabs

• LOW RISK - There is little chance of this vulnerability being actively exploited by malware.
• MEDIUM RISK - There is a possibility of this vulnerability being actively exploited by malware.
• HIGH RISK - There is a strong possibility of this vulnerability being actively exploited by malware.
• CRITICAL RISK - This vulnerability will almost certainly be actively exploited by malware.

Solution:
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Vendor Description:
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SophosLabs Comments:
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SophosLabs Testing Result:
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Currently Known Exploits:
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First Sample Seen:
Date of the first sample seen by SophosLabs.

Discovery Date:
Date of the earliest known publically disclosed advisory.

Affected Software:
Vulnerable platforms and software versions.