Used Microsoft Word 2000 Security Update: Macro Vulnerability for Windows?


Editors’ Review

Download.com staff
This patch for Word 2000 fixes a critical security flaw allowing malicious macros to run automatically through linked documents, potentially compromising user settings.
  • Pros

    • Requires user approval to run macros by design.
    • Notifies users of macro presence in documents.
    • Checks linked secondary documents for macros.
    • Scans documents and templates for macros.
  • Cons

    • Vulnerable to malicious macro execution via linked templates.
    • Macros can perform any user action.
    • Can disable user security settings for macros.

Used Microsoft Word 2000 Security Update: Macro Vulnerability for Windows?


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Full Specifications

GENERAL
Release
Latest update
Version
Update
OPERATING SYSTEMS
Platform
Windows
Operating System
  • Windows 10
  • Windows 98
  • Windows 95
  • Windows 2000
  • Windows NT
Additional Requirements
Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000
POPULARITY
Total Downloads
338
Downloads Last Week
0

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Developer’s Description

Security patch for Word 2000
Word, like other members of the Office product family, provides a security mechanism that requires user's approval to run macros. By design, anytime a document is opened the user would be notified if the document contains macros. In addition, this mechanism checks secondary documents that the original document links to, such as templates, and warn if any of those contain macros. This feature works by scanning the document or template for the presence of macros, alerting the user of their presence, and then asking the user if he wants to allow the macros to run. By embedding a macro in a template, and providing another user with an RTF document that links to it, an attacker could cause a macro to run automatically when the RTF document was opened. The macro would be able to take any action that the user herself could take. This could include disabling the user�???�??�?�¢??s Word security settings so that subsequently-opened Word documents would no longer be checked for macros.

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