Security & Privacy

Microsoft has issued updates for Office 2008 and 2011 to fix some security issues. This important update fixes critical issues and helps to improve security by patching vulnerabilities that an attacker could use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code. Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel could allow remote code execution (affected software: Microsoft Office 2003 SP3, 2007 SP2, 2010 SP1; Microsoft Office 2008 and 2011 for Mac, Excel Viewer, and Office Compatibility Pack SP 2 and SP3).

This security update resolves four privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Excel file with an affected version of Microsoft Excel. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the current user. […] The security update addresses the vulnerabilities by correcting how Microsoft Excel parses and validates data when opening specially crafted Excel files.

You can use the Microsoft AutoUpdate program to get these updates or download them from Microsoft’s website. If you have automatic updating enabled and configured to check online for updates, this security update will be downloaded and installed automatically. If you do not have automatic updates enabled, you will need to install these updates manually.

The Microsoft Office for Mac updates are available for download from the following links:

• Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.3.5 Update, 218.4 MB
• Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.2.5 Update, 101.8 MB

All users of Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 and 2011 should apply these software updates to address the Excel vulnerabilities.