Microsoft Security Bulletin MS00-022 - Critical

Patch Available for "XLM Text Macro" Vulnerability

Published: April 03, 2000

Version: 1.0

Originally Posted: April 03, 2000

Summary

Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates a security vulnerability in Microsoft® Excel. The vulnerability could allow a macro to run without generating the expected security warning.

Frequently asked questions regarding this vulnerability can be found at https://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-022.mspx.

General Information

Issue

When an Excel user starts a macro that resides outside of the current spreadsheet (for example, in another spreadsheet), Excel by design will generate a warning dialogue. However, this dialogue is not generated if the macro consists of Excel 4.0 Macro Language (XLM) commands in an external text file.

The vulnerability only affects whether a warning dialogue is displayed - it does not change any other aspects of the macro's operation. A malicious user would need to entice a user into accepting the spreadsheet and opening it. Further, there is no means to "autolaunch" such a macro, so the malicious user would need to entice the user into clicking a link into to launch the macro.

Affected Software Versions

Microsoft Excel 97
Microsoft Excel 2000
Note: Excel ships as a stand-alone product, and also as a member of the Office family.

Note: Previous versions of Excel may be affected by this vulnerability. The recommended course of action for customers using these products is to upgrade to either Excel 97 or 2000, and apply the patch for them.

Vulnerability Identifier: CVE-2000-0277

Patch Availability

Excel 97:
https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?FamilyID=47e6bbc2-029d-42f3-9baa-dfb1ed20846f&DisplayLang;=en

Note: This patch requires Office 97 Service Release 2
Excel 2000:
This vulnerability is eliminated in Office Service Release 1, which is available at https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?FamilyID=AF6C8D03-7633-45B4-AB96-795EE656F2A2&displaylang;=EN

Note: Additional security patches are available at the Microsoft Download Center

More Information

Please see the following references for more information related to this issue.

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS00-022: Frequently Asked Questions, https://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-022.mspx
Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article 255605 https://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;255605
Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article 255606 https://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;255606
Microsoft TechNet Security web site, https:.

Obtaining Support on this Issue

This is a fully supported patch. Information on contacting Microsoft Technical Support is available at </https:>https:.

Acknowledgments

Microsoft thanks Darryl Higa for reporting this issue to us and working with us to protect customers.

Revisions

April 03, 2000: Bulletin Created.

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