New Microsoft Word Malware Spreading
Return To ArticleA newly discovered unpatched attacking method that exploits a built-in feature of Microsoft Office is currently being used in various widespread malware attack campaigns.
DDE protocol is one of the several methods that Microsoft uses to allow two running applications to share the same data.
The protocol is being used by thousands of apps, including MS Excel, MS Word, Quattro Pro, and Visual Basic for one-time data transfers and for continuous exchanges for sending updates to one another.
The DDE exploitation technique displays no “security” warnings to victims, except asking them if they want to execute the application specified in the command—although this popup alert could also be eliminated “with proper syntax modification.”
