Flaw found in Office 2007

Researchers have discovered a "highly critical" security flaw in newly released Office 2007, despite Microsoft's efforts to deliver its most secure version yet of the productivity software.

The consumer version of Office 2007, which launched only four weeks ago, is designed to withstand higher scrutiny by malicious code writers, as Microsoft subjected the software to code auditors as part of its security development lifecycle.

But researchers at eEye Digital Security found a file format vulnerability in Microsoft Office Publisher 2007, which could be exploited to let an outsider run code on a compromised PC.

"We were surprised we could find a flaw so quickly (after Office 2007 launched) and one that was part of their core products," said Ross Brown, eEye's chief executive.

An attacker could create a malicious publisher file, he said. Once the recipient opens the file, he or she could find the system infected and susceptible to a remote attack.

Researchers at eEye used a standard process of code auditing in discovering the vulnerabilities, Brown added. He noted that Microsoft either did not do a "good job" with its code auditing, or it may not have had enough people working on such a task.

Microsoft, meanwhile, said it is investigating eEye's report of a possible vulnerability in Publisher 2007 and will provide users with additional guidance if necessary.

Executives at the software giant have recently said they expect security challenges to keep emerging, as an increasing number of devices connect to the Internet.

No public exploits have been reported in circulation for Publisher 2007 and, given Office 2007's recent release, the flaw may hold little attraction for attackers who may wish to concentrate on software that is in greater distribution, eEye said.

[bob blob]

wait for it...

wait for it...

[bradyme]

Flaw

The hole system is a flaw! Wht do ineed a gig of memory to just run the friken OS + Office! Is 2 gigs just to have a stable system to let me do what I want!! GHAWD!

[jevenew]

Office Flaw

I see your readers are still searching for that perfect bundle of software; you know the one. That perfect piece of software that all you do is turn on your PC and your job ends. The computer then reads your mind, and selects every different scenario that you might want, and proceeds to do it well.
You do have choices. You might write your own software, then you could blame yourself for the holes you say are in MS Office 2007.

[Microsoft_Facts]

Keep it in perspective...

There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of flaws in Microsoft Office products. There is one (1) known macro virus in all other non-Microsoft Office products combine the world over.

The flaw here is Microsoft's monopoly on Office products has been allowed to continue, costing society at large severe harm.

[zaxt]

Publisher 2007

I have been using Pub 2007 quite a lot for the past three days. Yesterday I started having alot of problems i.e. monitor settings, ITunes, and others. Could this be related to the Pub 2007 problem?