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Microsoft warns of a score of security flaws....Which includes Office v. x for Mac.

SiliconAddict

SiliconAddict

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jun 19, 2003
5,889
0
Chicago, IL
Well I guess the Royal Navy can start their patching then....

Microsoft warns of a score of security flaws

Microsoft on Tuesday published 10 software security advisories, warning Windows users and corporate administrators of 22 new flaws that affect the company's products.
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And apparently MS didn't want to leave Mac users out of all the fun....
One flaw, in Microsoft Excel, even affects Apple Computer's Mac OS X.
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How very thoughtful of them....

Here is the technote on the issue: Technote on the Office v flaw



Can't you just feel the love? :rolleyes:
 
SiliconAddict said:
Well I guess the Royal Navy can start their patching then....
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I can't see how this works:
If a user is logged on with administrative privileges
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...so, if someone happens to have sudo'd just before loading the malicious file, then they're at risk? I don't get it.

How typically vague.

When this security bulletin was issued, had this vulnerability been publicly disclosed?
No. Microsoft received information about this vulnerability through responsible disclosure.
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Oh! That makes it alright then!

It's good to see the hackers are responsible. (begins patching software...)
 
brap said:
...so, if someone happens to have sudo'd just before loading the malicious file, then they're at risk? I don't get it.

How typically vague.
Click to expand...
A limited user is at less risk than an administrative user, and an administrative user is at less risk than the root user (invoked via sudo or other means). It works much the same way on Windows.
 
I found this 'candid' picture of some m$ programmers on break.

windoof.jpg



Seriously though, can those retards write even one piece of software that isn't full of security flaws? I suppose there's still m$ Bob... :rolleyes:

note: the pic ain't mine, I just found it
 
How easy would it be for MS to provide Mac users an Office version with a single major flaw and screw up Apple's virus-free atmosphere? WHile I actually like Office and don't see why so many people complain about it, it's still a concern for me to let a company like MS create flawed software for the Mac. And you know that MS software will be flawed in many ways...
 
gotta love that pic , lol . as always micro$oft always seems to mess things up , at least they have a fix for it sort of.
 
Elan0204 said:
At least the security flaw was fixed (intentionally or by accident) in MS Office 2004.
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I think that if Microsoft didn't fix the problem the potential would be there to loose Mac business completely. Apple could always bring back AppleWorks. :D
 
wdlove said:
I think that if Microsoft didn't fix the problem the potential would be there to loose Mac business completely. Apple could always bring back AppleWorks. :D
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It would take a bit more than just "bringing back" AppleWorks in order to replace Office, but I think you are right about losing Mac business. If I remember right, most of the viruses and so forth for pre-OS X systems were Microsoft related as well (macro viruses and such). I think that Apple can still retain it's title as virus free as the flaw was not their fault, but the fault of the most security-challenged OS on the planet.
 
If you've got Office 2004, get that SP1 installed.

Ugh, there are two separate threads on this? Office 2004 does contain this flaw as well, SP1 includes a patch for it. Presumably they announced it separately so as not to call attention to this slipping through in a product released after the big security push.
 
Can they make anything right! I just installed Microsoft Office 2004's patch using their auto-update tool. It went smoothly (or so it seems). When it was done installing, I ran excel, looked fine but... when I tried to quit excel, I got this message: "Compile error in hidden module: AutoExec". Thanks for making it worst Microsoft. Gawd! can they put a little more effort in their craft? My apps never crash... except when I use a Microsoft App or Quark. Sorry for venting but I really did'nt need that kind of update. :(

Hidden Modules? Error? AutoExec? Wow! that felt sooooo Windows.

Edit:

The darned error message is still there after a restart. Microsoft auto-update sees my office as up-to-date. Anyone know of a way to uninstall the patch aside from reinstalling Office from scratch?
 
kgarner said:
It would take a bit more than just "bringing back" AppleWorks in order to replace Office, but I think you are right about losing Mac business. If I remember right, most of the viruses and so forth for pre-OS X systems were Microsoft related as well (macro viruses and such). I think that Apple can still retain it's title as virus free as the flaw was not their fault, but the fault of the most security-challenged OS on the planet.
Click to expand...

I agree, the OS is still robust, but you can blame those 'monkeys at MS' for screwing up yet again.
 
srobert said:
I ran excel, looked fine but... when I tried to quit excel, I got this message: "Compile error in hidden module: AutoExec".
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HA! They've been bitten by their own security fix!

Just for grins look at the add-ins under the Tools menu and see what's installed. I'm very curious to learn if this one is Microsoft's or Adobe's fault.
 
iMeowbot said:
Just for grins look at the add-ins under the Tools menu and see what's installed. I'm very curious to learn if this one is Microsoft's or Adobe's fault.
Click to expand...

error.jpg


addins.jpg


:(
 
Patching the patch

Ok. Seems I'm not the only one with this problem. Here is a "fix". (Not from Microsoft)

- - - - - - - - - -

From: Beth Rosengard

1. In the Finder, do a "Find" for "PDFMaker". You will probably discover
These annoying files in three Startup folders (Word, Excel, PowerPoint),
namely PDFMaker.dot, PDFMaker.xla and PDFMaker.ppa Trash the files. Read number 2 before trashing

2. In place of each of them, create a new blank *folder* with the names,
respectively, of PDFMaker.dot, PDFMaker.xla and PDFMaker.ppa.

3. When you open Acrobat you may be told there is a discrepancy and
asked whether you want it repaired. Click "Don't ask me again" and "No"
to the repair question.

The result is that when you open Acrobat, it will "see" that you already
have a PDFMaker.dot or .xla in folder form and will not create another nor
overwrite what's there (since a file can't overwrite a folder).

- - - - - - - - - -
From: The Terminator

Yes it does work...but what if we want the PDFMaker toolbar? Did SP1 "break" it until Adobe fixes it?

- - - - - - - - - -

From: Beth Rosengard

From what I understand you don't need it. All it does is duplicate
functions/commands already inherent in Word/OS X. However if you really
want it, keep it; but I guess you'll have to put up with the error message.

I have already reported this to MS and if I hear anything, I'll post back on
this thread.

- - - - - - - - - -
 
Stinkin' Microsoft

I installed Office Update and what does it do? It deleted all the Office.apps. Well, pretty sound logic: I won't be able to get a virus cause of Word if the updater removes Word! Of course the log file doesn't seem to mention this. Easy enough to reinstall Office, but sheesh, what a lame update.
 
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