Microsoft warned today that attackers are targeting a previously unknown security vulnerability in some versions of Microsoft Office and Windows. The company also has shipped an interim “Fix-It” tool to blunt attacks on the flaw until it has time to develop and release a more comprehensive patch.
In a post on its Technet blog, Microsoft said the attacks observed so far against the vulnerability have been “carefully carried out against selected computers, largely in the Middle East and South Asia.” It added that the exploit needs some user interaction because it arrives disguised as an email that entices potential victims to open a specially crafted Microsoft Word attachment. The exploit attacks an unpatched security flaw in the way some older versions of Office and Windows process graphical images. According to Microsoft, the exploit combines multiple techniques to bypass exploit mitigation techniques such as data execution prevention (DEP) and address space layout randomization (ASLR). The company says this exploit will not affect Office 2013, but will affect older versions such as Office 2003 and Office 2007. “Due to the way Office 2010 uses the vulnerable graphic library, it is only affected only when running on older platforms such as Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, but it is not affected when running on newer Windows families (7, 8 and 8.1),” Microsoft wrote. Microsoft’s latest Fix-It tool should help blunt attacks on this vulnerability. Also, while this particular exploit does try to evade DEP and ASLR protections, it’s probably as good a time as any to remind readers about Microsoft EMET, a free tool that can increase the security of third party applications that run on top of Windows. Interestingly, news of the exploit surfaced less than 48 hours after Microsoft announced it would expand its $100,000 bug bounty program for researchers who can find and report novel exploitation techniques for evading Windows’ built-in defenses.
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