Check Point Advisories

Microsoft Office Excel String Variable Code Execution (MS10-038; CVE-2010-1252)

Vulnerability
Protection

Check Point Reference:	CPAI-2010-202
Date Published:	28 Sep 2010
Severity:	High
Last Updated:	Tuesday 28 September, 2010
Source:
Industry Reference:	CVE-2010-1252
Protection Provided by:	Security Gateway R81, R80, R77, R75
Who is Vulnerable?
Vulnerability Description	Microsoft Excel is a popular spreadsheet application that is usually released as part of the Microsoft Office suite. The application can create complex spreadsheets with multiple workbooks, formulae, and various data sources. The common extension used for Microsoft Excel documents is .xls or .xlw. A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Office Excel. The vulnerability is due to an error parsing the string length in an ExternSheet record. A remote attacker may exploit this vulnerability by enticing target users to open a malicious Excel file, potentially causing arbitrary code to be injected and executed in the security context of the current user. Successful exploitation of this issue may allow execution of arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.

Protection Overview

This protection will detect and block the transferring of malformed Excel files over HTTP.

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

Security Gateway R80 / R77 / R75

In the IPS tab, click Protections and find the Microsoft Office Excel String Variable Code Execution (MS10-038) protection using the Search tool and Edit the protection's settings.
Install policy on all Security Gateways.

This protection's log will contain the following information:

Attack Name: Content Protection Violation.
Attack Information: Microsoft Office Excel string variable code execution (MS10-038)