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Update Protection against Microsoft Office Web Components Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (MS08-017)

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Check Point Reference: CPAI-2008-035
Date Published:
Severity:
Last Updated:
Source: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-017
Industry Reference(s): CVE-2007-1201
CVE-2006-4695
Protection Provided by: VPN-1
  • NGX R65
  • NGX R62
  • NGX R61
  • NGX R60
InterSpect
  • NGX
IPS-1
  • IPS-1
  • IPS-1 NGX R65
Who is Vulnerable?
Microsoft Office 2000 SP3
Microsoft Office XP SP3
Visual Studio .NET 2002 Enterprise Architect/Developer SP1 
Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Architect/Developer
Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Architect/Developer SP1
Microsoft BizTalk Server 2002
Microsoft Commerce Server 2000
Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2000 Enterprise/Standard Edition SP2
Vulnerability Description
A remote code execution vulnerability has been reported in Microsoft Office Web Components. Microsoft Office Web Components are a collection of Component Object Model (COM) controls for publishing spreadsheets, charts, and databases to the Web, and for viewing the published components on the Web. A remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user to visit a specially crafted Web page. Successful exploitation could result in execution of arbitrary code on the affected system.
Update/Patch Available
Apply patches:
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-017
Vulnerability Details
The vulnerability is due to a memory corruption error in Microsoft Office Web Components when parsing a specially crafted URL. A remote attacker could exploit this issue by convincing a user to visit a malicious Web page. Successful exploitation of this issue could allow remote code execution on the affected system.

Protection Overview
By enabling this protection, SmartDefense will detect and block attempts to exploit this vulnerability. Depending on the traffic mix, activating this protection may result in performance degradation.

In order for the protection to be activated, update your VPN-1/InterSpect product to the latest SmartDefense update. For information on how to update 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.

VPN-1 NGX R65 & R62

How Can I Protect My Network?
1. In the SmartDefense tab, click Web Intelligence > HTTP Client Protections > Microsoft Internet Explorer Vulnerabilities > Block Microsoft Office Web Components Vulnerability (MS08-017).
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: Web Client Enforcement Violation
Attack Information: MS Office web components vulnerability detected (MS08-017)

VPN-1 NGX R61 & R60

How Can I Protect My Network?
1. In the Web Intelligence tree, click HTTP Client Protections > Microsoft Internet Explorer Vulnerabilities.
2. Select the following:

Block Microsoft Office Web Components Vulnerability (MS08-017)

3. Install security policy on all modules.

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

Attack Name: Web Client Enforcement Violation
Attack Information: MS Office web components vulnerability detected (MS08-017)

InterSpect NGX

How Can I Protect My Network?
1. In the left pane, select Profiles > Default Protection and select the Web Intelligence page of the profile.
2. In the Web Intelligence tree, click HTTP Client Protections > Microsoft Internet Explorer vulnerabilities.
3. Select the following:

Block Microsoft Office Web Components Vulnerability (MS08-017)

4. Install security policy on all modules.

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

Attack Name: Web Client Enforcement Violation
Attack Information: MS Office web components vulnerability detected (MS08-017)

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 ActiveX filter protection group.
3. Select the following protections (IPS-1 NGX R65 only):

CVE-2006-4695 MS Office Web Component Vulnerability (MS08-017)
CVE-2007-1201 MS Office Web Component Vulnerability (MS08-017)

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 entry will be logged:

Alert Name: badfiles_activex
Description: cve_2006_4695_alert

Alert Name: badfiles_activex
Description: cve_2007_1201_alert