OFF: Patch Available That Eliminates Security Vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Jet Database Engine

ID: Q240174

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office 97 for Windows
Microsoft Office 2000

SUMMARY

Microsoft has released a patch that eliminates security vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Jet database engine. The vulnerabilities could affect any application that runs atop Jet, and could allow a database query to take virtually any action on a user's computer. Microsoft recommends that all customers who are running applications that use Jet, especially users of Microsoft Office 97 or Office 2000, install the patch.

Jet is a database engine used by Microsoft products such as Microsoft Office 97 and Office 2000. Two vulnerabilities exist in Jet:

The "VBA Shell" vulnerability, which affects all versions of Jet except Jet 4.0. An operating system command embedded within a database query could be executed when the query is processed. This would allow a spreadsheet, database, or other application file that contained such a query to take virtually any action on the user's computer when the query was executed.

The "Text I-ISAM" vulnerability, which affects all versions of Jet. Jet provides a way to modify the contents of text files, as a way of allowing data exchange between it and other systems. However, a malicious user could use this capability to modify system files via a database query. Microsoft Office uses the Jet engine, and Office users are particularly at risk from these vulnerabilities. (The "VBA Shell" vulnerability affects all versions of Office prior to Office 2000, and also affects one member of the Office 2000 suite, Access 2000. The "Text I-ISAM" vulnerability affects all versions of Office).

The vulnerabilities are an especially serious threat to Office users for three reasons:

Scenarios for exploiting these vulnerabilities via Office documents are publicly known.

The ubiquity of Office would make it an attractive target for mounting attacks via these vulnerabilities.

The ability of Office documents to perform Document Object Hosting would permit users to be attacked simply by visiting a malicious user's Web site.

Microsoft Jet also is used by several other Microsoft products, as well as many third-party applications. However, the ability to exploit this vulnerability through these products is highly dependent on the specific application. Although Microsoft has not identified a means of exploiting these vulnerabilities through any Microsoft products except Office, we recommend that all customers who have Microsoft Jet installed on their computer update it. This will ensure that they are protected against any possible attacks that may be developed.

Affected Software Versions

Microsoft Jet, all versions

NOTE: Jet serves as the database engine for a number of Microsoft products, including but not limited to:

Microsoft Office
Microsoft Visual Studio
Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Streets & Trips

Jet also serves as the database engine for many third-party software products. The patch does not require any change to any of the applications that use Jet; instead, it operates directly on the Jet database engine and restores proper functionality to it.

Patch Availability

http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/articles/mdac_typ.htm

NOTES:

This Web site provides separate pages for Office 97 and Office 2000. This is done in order to provide specific information about the vulnerabilities affecting the products. The patch for Office 97 and Office 2000 (and indeed for all affected products) is exactly the same, and both pages link to exactly the same patch. The patch will determine what version(s) of Jet are present on the machine and apply all of the needed corrections.

The patch is suitable for use by all language packs.

The patch applies to Jet 3.5 and all subsequent versions. Older versions of Jet are no longer supported, and we recommend that affected customers upgrade to a supported version.

The patch is suitable for widespread deployment via Microsoft Systems Management Server. Users who wish to manually apply patches for specific versions of Jet should consult the FAQ for information on how to do this.

MORE INFORMATION

Please see the following references, or click the article numbers below for more information related to this issue:

Microsoft Security Advisor Web Site

Q239114 ACC2000: Updated Version of Microsoft Jet 4.0 Available on MSL

Q172733 Updated Version of Microsoft Jet 3.5 Available on MSL

Q239482 ACC2000: Jet 4.0 Expression Can Execute Unsafe Visual Basic for Application Functions

Q239104 Jet Expression Can Execute Unsafe Visual Basic for Application Functions

Q239471 Jet 4.0 Text IISAM Allows Users to Append Lines to System Files

Q239105 Jet 3.5 Text ISAM Allows Users to Append Lines to System Files

Q141796 HOWTO: Identify the Jet Database Engine Components

Additional query words: OFF2000 OFF97

Keywords : kbdta
Version : WINDOWS:2000,97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb