Effects
MS09-068 is not categorized as virus, worm, Trojan or backdoor. It is an important vulnerability in certain versions of Word, which allows arbitrary code to be remotely executed in the vulnerable computer.
The affected versions are:
- Word 2002 on Office XP and Word 2003 on Office 2003.
- Office Word Viewer 2003 and Office Word Viewer.
- Office 2004 and Office 2008 for Mac.
- Open XML File Format Converter for Mac.
This vulnerability is due to the way Word handles a specially crafted Word file that includes a malformed record.
If exploited successfully, MS09-068 allows hackers to gain remote control of the affected computer with the same privileges as the logged-on user. If this user had administrator rights, the hacker could take complete control of the system: create, modify or delete files, install programs, create new user accounts, etc.
MS09-068 is exploited by creating a specially crafted Word file and sending it via email or hosting it in a website and convincing users to open it.
If you have any of the vulnerable programs installed on your computer, it is recommended to download and apply the security patch for this vulnerability. Click here to access the web page for downloading the patch.
Bear in mind that this security bulletin replaces a previous one called MS09-027.