Microsoft Groove 2007 Code Execution Vulnerability

Severity: Medium

8 March, 2011

Summary:

• This vulnerability affects: The Microsoft Groove 2007 service (which ships with some versions of Office 2007)
• How an attacker exploits it: By enticing your users into opening specially crafted files Groove files
• Impact: In the worst case, an attacker gains complete control of your user’s computer
• What to do: Deploy the appropriate Groove update immediately, or let Windows Automatic Update do it for you

Exposure:

Microsoft Groove (now called Microsoft SharePoint Workspace) is document collaboration program that allows you to share a workspace with a team of online and offline members. When you make changes to a document, those changes automatically synchronize over the shared workspace. Groove ships with the Enterprise and Ultimate versions of Microsoft Office 2007.

In a security bulletin released today as part of Patch Day, Microsoft describes a serious vulnerability that affects the Microsoft Groove 2007 service. The flaw involves an insecure Dynamically Linked Libraries (DLL) loading technique that was originally described in this Security Advisory. By enticing one of your users into opening a malicious Groove-related  file (.vcg or .gta) that is located in the same network directory as a specially crafted DLL, an attacker could leverage this vulnerability to execute code on that user’s computer, with that user’s privileges. If your users have local administrative privileges, the attacker could leverage this issue to gain complete control of their machine.

Solution Path:

Download, test, and deploy the Microsoft Groove 2007 Service update, or let Windows Update do it for you.

For All WatchGuard Users:

If the practice fits your business environment, you can use the HTTP, SMTP, and/or POP3 proxies to block the Groove-related files (.vcg and .gta) used to trigger these vulnerabilities. However, doing so will also prevent users from downloading legitimate Groove files as well. Instead, we recommend you install the updates listed above.

Nonetheless. If you would like to use our proxies to block these files types, follow the links below for instructions:

Firebox X Edge running 10.x

• How do I block files with the FTP proxy?
• How do I block files with the HTTP proxy?
• How do I block files with the POP3 proxy?
• How do I block files with the SMTP proxy

Firebox X Core and X Peak running Fireware 10.x

• How do I block files with the FTP proxy?
• How do I block files with the HTTP proxy?
• How do I block files with the POP3 proxy?
• How do I block files with the SMTP proxy?

Status:

Microsoft has released patches to fix this vulnerability

References:

• MS Security Bulletin MS11-016

This alert was researched and written by Corey Nachreiner, CISSP.

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