Although Microsoft replied a week later, the company seems to have dismissed it as they couldn’t replicate the same on their end.

As researcher John Hammond highlighted on Twitter, the link could get executed right from the Explorer’s preview pane as a Rich Text Format (.rtf) file.Īccording to ArsTechnica’s report, researchers at Shadow Chaser Group had brought the vulnerability to Microsoft’s attention as early as April 12. Well, that’s because the execution could happen even beyond Protected View’s scope. As a side note, the exploit got the name “Follina” because the sample file references 0438, the area code of Follina, Italy.Īt this point, you might be wondering why Microsoft’s Protected View won’t stop the document from opening the link. It then uses the ms-msdt MSProtocol URI scheme to load the code and execute PowerShell commands. The attacker can then install programs, view, change, or delete data, or create new accounts in the context allowed by the user’s rights,” explains Microsoft.Īs researcher Kevin Beaumont explains, the attack uses Word’s remote template feature to retrieve an HTML file from a remote web server. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can run arbitrary code with the privileges of the calling application. “A remote code execution vulnerability exists when MSDT is called using the URL protocol from a calling application such as Word.

With this exploit, attackers can remotely run PowerShell commands through MSDT when opening malicious Office documents. Known with the CVE-2022-30190 tracker code, the zero-day exploit is linked to the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT).

Before we get to the steps to fix the vulnerability, let’s understand what the exploit is all about.

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