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Microsoft Warns Customers About New Zero-Day Word Exploit

Microsoft Corp. today issued a security advisory telling customers it is "investigating" reports of new zero-day code aimed at Microsoft Word 2000.

"In order for this attack to be carried out, a user must first open a malicious Word file attached to an e-mail or otherwise provided to them by an attacker," the company said.

Security vendor Symantec said it began detecting code for this exploit, a variant of a previous Trojan, earlier this week.

Microsoft said that it may release an "out-of-cycle" patch for the flaw, depending on the results of the investigation. It has updated Windows Live OneCare to detect such code, as well as alerted other vendors.

To read the advisory, go here.

About the Author

Becky Nagel serves as vice president of AI for 1105 Media specializing in developing media, events and training for companies around AI and generative AI technology. She also regularly writes and reports on AI news, and is the founding editor of PureAI.com. She's the author of "ChatGPT Prompt 101 Guide for Business Users" and other popular AI resources with a real-world business perspective. She regularly speaks, writes and develops content around AI, generative AI and other business tech. She has a background in Web technology and B2B enterprise technology journalism.

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