Unwanted Data Issue with Office 98 for the Macintosh

When Office 98 for Macintosh creates a file on the local hard disk drive for storage, it is possible that a small amount of random data from a previously deleted file could become embedded in the new file. If sent to another user it may be possible to expose data from a previously deleted file on the sender's system.

Issue

The problem is caused by the way Office 98 allocates space on a disk for local file storage. The Mac OS, like many other Operating System (OS) file systems does not erase files when you delete them, it simply removes a reference to them in the disk's catalog, and marks the space they occupied as free. Office 98 does not clear the disk space when the Mac OS allocates it during a File Save operation. Instead, Office 98 simply writes the file contents to the allocated disk space, overwriting any random data that physically existed on the disk. Since the Mac OS allocates the disk space in set chucks, called clusters, the small amount of unused space at the end of the file's last cluster may contain random data from previously deleted files. The data cannot be viewed when opened as a native Office file. However, an ASCII text editor can be used to view the extraneous data.

The chance that sensitive data will be transferred through this bug is unlikely, since multiple unusual scenarios must occur.

Affected Products

• Microsoft Office 98 for the Macintosh

Solution

Microsoft has produced an update for Office 98 for the Macintosh that completely eliminates this problem. This update is available from Microsoft's Web site, as well as from Microsoft Technical Support. It will be included in future updates of Office 98 for the Macintosh.

Customers who cannot apply the hot fix can use the following workarounds to temporarily address this issue:

• This problem can be eliminated by using a third-party disk utility for the Mac OS that will completely erase files when they are deleted.
• Users can save files to freshly formatted floppy disks to ensure that no unwanted data is included with the file.
• This issue only affects files that are saved to a local Macintosh volume. By performing a "Save As..." operation from Office 98 and saving the file to network volume, to a Windows NT Server running Services for Macintosh, for example, any random data at the end of the file will be removed.

Download

Patch: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/office/98/updates/office98_combined_updater/

Further Details

Source: Microsoft Corporation

Updated: July 17, 1998

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