Outlook View Control Exposes Unsafe Functionality New

A security vulnerability exists in Microsoft Outlook that could allow certain macros to run in conjunction with the Outlook View Control.

Issue

The Microsoft Outlook View Control is an ActiveX control that allows Outlook mail folders to be viewed via web pages. The control should only allow passive operations such as viewing mail or calendar data. In reality, though, it exposes a function that could allow the web page to manipulate Outlook data. This could enable an attacker to delete mail, change calendar information, or take virtually any other action through Outlook including running arbitrary code on the user's machine.

Hostile web sites would pose the greatest threat with respect to this vulnerability. If a user could be enticed into visiting a web page controlled by an attacker, script or HTML on the page could invoke the control when the page was opened. The script or HTML could then use the control to take whatever action the attacker desired on the user's Outlook data.

Affected Products

• Microsoft® Outlook 98, 2000 & 2002

Further Details

Source: Microsoft Corporation

Reference: Microsoft Corporation

Updated: July 12, 2001

>> Recommended Download - secure your PC from spyware, adware and malware now with Spyware Doctor <<