CVE-2010-1250

Vulnerability

A heap-based buffer overflow exists in Microsoft Office Excel 2002 SP3, Office 2004 for Mac, Office 2008 for Mac, and Open XML File Format Converter for Mac. The vulnerability is triggered when parsing specially crafted Excel files containing malformed EDG (0x88) and Publisher (0x89) records [1]. This memory corruption can be exploited by an attacker who crafts a malicious .xls file.

Exploitation

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user to open a specially crafted Excel file, typically delivered via email attachment or hosted on a malicious website. No authentication or user interaction beyond opening the file is required. The attacker does not need any special network position; the attack is file-based [1][2].

Impact

Successful exploitation allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the logged-on user. If the user has administrative privileges, the attacker can gain full control of the system, including installing programs, viewing/changing/deleting data, or creating new accounts with full user rights [1].

Mitigation

Microsoft released security update MS10-038 on June 8, 2010, which addresses this vulnerability by correcting the way Excel parses specially crafted Excel files [1]. Users should apply the update immediately. No workarounds are documented; the only mitigation is to install the patch [2].