Microsoft alert on Excel vulnerability

Targeted exploitation of zero-day flaw seen in wild.

Microsoft

has issued a security advisory on an unresolved vulnerability in its

Excel

software, which has been reported as a vector for targeted attacks in the wild.

Few details have emerged on the exact nature of the flaw, but it is known to affect several versions of

Excel

including the 2000, 2002, 2003 (SP2), and 2004 for

Mac

editions. More recent versions, including 2003 with SP3, 2007, and 2008 for

Mac

, are thought to be safe from the vulnerability. Systems subjected to attacks could risk allowing remote code execution and total system compromise.

The

Microsoft

advisory is

here

, with some comment from

McAfee


here

.

Secunia

, which rates the issue as ‘extremely critical’, has a summary

here

.

Microsoft

has advised anyone who suspects they may have been the victim of such an attack to report the incident to their local law enforcement agency.

While US citizens can report attacks to the FBI or the

Internet Crime Complaint Center

, the UK has not had a dedicated agency for cybercrime reporting and investigation since the former National High-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) became defunct in April 2006.

A petition has been set up to push for a new centralised agency to manage cybercrime reporting and investigation in the UK – the petition can be signed by any UK citizen before 29 February. Details are at

Sophos


here

.

Posted on 17 January 2008 by

Virus Bulletin