Bug affects Microsoft Publisher 2007

By Janet Harris

Researchers at eEye Digital Security have identified a vulnerability in Publisher 2007, Microsoft’s document creation programme.

The file format vulnerability could allow a hacker to create a malicious publisher file, which could be used to execute arbitrary code in a remote attack.

Security researchers have rated the vulnerability as “highly critical”. Microsoft is not aware of any attacks attempting to use the bug or of customer impact.

The consumer version of Office 2007, which was launched in January, was hailed by Microsoft as its most secure software to date. The company said that the programme could block increasingly sophisticated attacks from malicious code writers.