Full Report
In 2009, LevelBlue Vice President of Security Research Ziv Mador and Cristian Craioveanu worked at the Microsoft Malware Team and documented a notable code injection vulnerability on certain versions of Windows PowerPoint (Windows PowerPoint 2000 SP3, 2002 SP3, and 2003 SP3, and PowerPoint in Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac.)
Analysis Summary
# Vulnerability: Windows PowerPoint Code Injection (2009 Research)
## CVE Details
- CVE ID: CVE-2009-0556
- CVSS Score: N/A (Score not provided in the summary context)
- CWE: N/A (Specific CWE not provided in the summary context)
## Affected Systems
- Products: Windows PowerPoint (part of Microsoft Office)
- Versions:
- Windows PowerPoint 2000 SP3
- Windows PowerPoint 2002 SP3
- Windows PowerPoint 2003 SP3
- PowerPoint in Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac
- Configurations: N/A
## Vulnerability Description
The vulnerability documented by Ziv Mador and Cristian Craioveanu involved a code injection flaw within specific versions of Windows PowerPoint. Successful exploitation would allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code upon opening a specially crafted presentation file.
## Exploitation
- Status: PoC available (Implied by the research documentation, though specific status like 'Exploited in the wild' is not confirmed in the snippet)
- Complexity: N/A (Not explicitly stated, but code injection vulnerabilities often have medium to high complexity depending on bypass techniques required)
- Attack Vector: N/A (Likely via file open/processing, suggesting Network or Local/Adjacent vectors are possible)
## Impact
- Confidentiality: Undetermined (Likely High if RCE is achieved)
- Integrity: Undetermined (Likely High if RCE is achieved)
- Availability: Undetermined (Likely High if RCE is achieved)
## Remediation
### Patches
The article **does not explicitly list the specific patch version** but confirms the vulnerability was documented in 2009, implying Microsoft released security updates to address it shortly after discovery.
### Workarounds
- Strictly isolate legacy systems running these vulnerable versions from the enterprise network.
- Never expose these systems to the public Internet.
- Implement compensating controls to reduce exploitability where patching is infeasible.
## Detection
- Indicators of Compromise (IoCs): Not provided in the summary context.
- Detection methods and tools: Not provided in the summary context, but standard file sandboxing and endpoint detection upon file processing would be relevant.
## References
- Vendor Advisories: Not explicitly linked or detailed in the provided text excerpt, though standard Microsoft Security Bulletins from circa 2009 would cover this.
- Relevant links - defanged:
- [LevelBlue Blog Post on CVE-2009-0556](https://levelblue.com/blogs/spiderlabs-blog/cve-2009-0556-the-2009-powerpoint-but-that-refuses-to-die)