Security Updates for Microsoft Word Products (March 2020)

high Nessus Plugin ID 134382

Synopsis

The Microsoft Word Products are affected by a Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. (CVE-2020-0850, CVE-2020-0892)

Description

The Microsoft Word Products are missing security updates.
It is, therefore, affected by affected by the following vulnerability:

- A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Word software when it fails to properly handle objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could use a specially crafted file to perform actions in the security context of the current user. For example, the file could then take actions on behalf of the logged-on user with the same permissions as the current user.

To exploit the vulnerability, a user must open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Microsoft Word software. In an email attack scenario, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending the specially crafted file to the user and convincing the user to open the file. In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a website (or leverage a compromised website that accepts or hosts user-provided content) that contains a specially crafted file that is designed to exploit the vulnerability. However, an attacker would have no way to force the user to visit the website. Instead, an attacker would have to convince the user to click a link, typically by way of an enticement in an email or Instant Messenger message, and then convince the user to open the specially crafted file. (CVE-2020-0850, CVE-2020-0892)

Solution

Microsoft has released the following security updates to address this issue:
-KB4484268
-KB4484240
-KB4484231

For Office 365, Office 2016 C2R, or Office 2019, ensure automatic updates are enabled or open Word and manually perform an update.

See Also

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4484268

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4484240

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4484231

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 134382

File Name: smb_nt_ms20_mar_word.nasl

Version: 1.8

Type: local

Agent: windows

Published: 3/10/2020

Updated: 6/10/2022

Supported Sensors: Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 9.3

Temporal Score: 6.9

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2020-0892

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.8

Temporal Score: 7.7

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2020-0850

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/a:microsoft:word

Required KB Items: SMB/MS_Bulletin_Checks/Possible

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 3/9/2020

Vulnerability Publication Date: 3/9/2020

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2020-0850, CVE-2020-0892

MSFT: MS20-4484231, MS20-4484240, MS20-4484268

MSKB: 4484231, 4484240, 4484268