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Update Protection against Microsoft WordPad and Office Text Converter Memory Corruption Vulnerability (MS09-073)

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Check Point Reference: CPAI-2009-259
Date Published:
Severity:
Last Updated:
Source: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-073
Industry Reference(s): CVE-2009-2506
Protection Provided by: Security Gateway
  • R70
VPN-1
  • NGX R65
VSX
  • NGX R65
IPS-1
  • IPS-1
  • IPS-1 NGX R65
Who is Vulnerable?
Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4
Windows XP SP2
Windows XP SP3
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2
Windows Server 2003 SP2
Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition SP2
Windows Server 2003 with SP2 (Itanium) Microsoft Office Word 2002 SP3
Microsoft Office Word 2003 SP3 Microsoft Works 8.5
Microsoft Works 9
Microsoft Office Converter Pack
Vulnerability Description
A remote code execution vulnerability has been reported in Microsoft WordPad and Office Word. WordPad Text Converters allow users who do not have Microsoft Office Word installed to open documents in other Microsoft Windows applications. They also allow users to save documents in the Word 97 file format. A remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability via a specially crafted Word 97 document. Successful exploitation may allow execution of arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.
Update/Patch Available
Apply patches:
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-073
Vulnerability Details
The vulnerability is due to a memory corruption error in the the Word 97 converter when a user opens a specially crafted document. A remote attacker could trigger this flaw by convincing a victim to open a malformed Word file. Successful exploitation of this issue allows execution of arbitrary code once the malformed file is being loaded on a vulnerable system.

Protection Overview
This protection will detect and block the transferring of malformed Word files over HTTP.

In order for the protection to be activated, update your Security Gateway/VPN-1 product to the latest IPS/SmartDefense update. For information on how to update IPS/SmartDefense, go to SBP-2006-05, Protection tab and select the version of your choice.

To configure the defense, select your product from the list below and follow the related protection steps.

Security Gateway R70

How Can I Protect My Network?
1. In the IPS tab, click Protections > By Protocol > Application Intelligence > Content Protection.
2. In the right pane, double-click the Microsoft WordPad and Office Text Converter Memory Corruption (MS09-073) protection.
3. In the Protection Details window, click on Edit. Choose the protection's Action (Override IPS Policy with: Prevent/Detect), and apply Additional Settings.
4. Install policy on all modules.

How Do I Know if My Network is Under Attack?
SmartView Tracker will log the following entries:

Attack Name: Content Protection Violation
Attack Information: Microsoft WordPad and Office text converter memory corruption (MS09-073)

VPN-1 NGX R65 & VSX NGX R65

How Can I Protect My Network?
1. In the SmartDefense tab, click Application Intelligence > Content Protection > Microsoft WordPad and Office Text Converter Memory Corruption (MS09-073).
2. In the configuration pane, under Settings > Mode, check Active.
3. Install policy on all modules.

How Do I Know if My Network is Under Attack?
SmartView Tracker will log the following entries:

Attack Name: Content Protection Violation
Attack Information: Microsoft WordPad and Office text converter memory corruption (MS09-073)

IPS-1 & IPS-1 NGX R65

How Can I Protect My Network?

1. In the IPS-1 Policy Manager, click on the Protection tab.
2. In the Protection tree, click Application Intelligence > Badfiles, and select the Microsoft Office Parser protection group.
3. Click Microsoft WordPad and Office Text Converter Memory Corruption (MS09-073) (IPS-1 NGX R65 only).
4. In the configuration pane, under Settings, check Active.
5. Click on Install Policy.

How Do I Know if My Network is Under Attack?

Upon attack, the following entries will be logged:

Alert Name: Vulnerability in MS-Office file
Description: Microsoft WordPad and Office Text Converter Memory Corruption (MS09-073)