Microsoft announced today that an unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft Word is being exploited in the wild. All versions of Microsoft Word, both Mac and Windows, and several related programs like the Word Viewer and Word Automation Services on Microsoft SharePoint Server are also vulnerable, but the current attacks are directed at Microsoft Word 2010.
Attackers are exploiting a newly discovered vulnerability in Microsoft Word that makes it possible to remotely seize control of computers, the company warned. The in-the-wild attacks work by creating booby-trapped documents in the Rich Text Format (RTF) that exploit a vulnerability in the 2010 version of Microsoft Word, Microsoft warned in an advisory published Monday. Similar attacks work against other versions of Word, including 2003, 2007, and 2013 for Windows, Microsoft Office for Mac 2011, and multiple versions of Microsoft SharePoint Server. E-mails that are viewed or previewed using a default setting in Outlook allow the attacker to gain the same system privileges as the user who is currently logged in.