WD97: Summary Information Under Properties Is Not Encrypted

ID: Q216866

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

Information from the properties of a Word document (on the File menu, click Properties) is not encrypted and can be read if a password-protected file is opened using a text editor (for example, Notepad).
The contents of the following fields of the document properties are included in the file data stream and are not encrypted with the document text:

Summary Tab

Title
Subject
Author
Manager
Company
Category
Keywords
Comments
Hyperlink base
Template

Custom Tab

Checked by
Client
Date completed
Department
Destination
Disposition
Division
Document number
Editor
Forward to
Group
Language
Mailstop
Matter
Office
Owner
Project
Publisher
Purpose
Received from
Recorded by
Recorded date
Reference
Source
Status
Telephone number
Typist
or any other custom field and value you add to the Custom tab.

Any text, value, or path information that is entered into any of the above listed fields appears when a password-protected file is opened in a text editor.

The most severe security issues are the result of Word automatically populating three of these fields without user intervention.

The first 125 characters of the first paragraph are automatically included as the title if no information has been manually entered.

The author's name is entered from the User Information tab (on the Tools menu, click Options).

The company name from the installation is automatically entered.

WORKAROUND

On the File menu, point to Properties and click the Summary tab. Clear any fields that would cause security concerns for the document. Repeat these steps for the Custom tab.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

Additional query words: text editor security

Keywords : kbfield
Version : WINDOWS:97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug