March 2008 is an all Office affair

All the March 2008 security updates relate to Microsoft Office.

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All the March 2008 security updates relate to Microsoft Office - from Office 2007 to Office 2000

All of the problems are 'remote code execution' issues where specially crafted files can allow a program to be unknowingly run on your computer.

Microsoft's documentation of these patches isn't a clarion of clarity, which is probably a deliberate tactic to encourage customers and media to skip the details and just accept the patches as given.

As usual, here's the patches arranged by version of Office, not the security problem. We feel this is more useful for our readers. The links are, as advised by Microsoft, to the individual download pages however in some cases the links don't work reliably.

Many people will get these updates automatically via Windows Update or Microsoft Update. The individual patch downloads are for those of us who don't trust Redmond's automatic update service after past missteps. The separate patches are also handy if you need to apply them to multiple computers in your home or office.

Office 2007

Excel Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949029 ) - only if you haven't installed Office 2007 Service Pack 1

Outlook Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949031 ) - only if you haven't installed Office 2007 Service Pack 1

Office 2003

Excel Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949029 ) - requires Service Pack 2. SP3 is unaffected.

Outlook Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949031 ) - requires Service Pack 2 or 3

Office Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949030) - requires Service Pack 2. SP3 is unaffected.

Office XP (2002)

Service Pack 3 is required before any of these patches are installed.

Excel Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949029 )

Outlook Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949031 )

Office Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949030)

Office Web Components remote code execution (KB 933103)

Office 2000

Service Pack 3 is required before any of these patches are installed.

Excel Remote Code execution issue (KB 949029 )

Outlook Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949031 )

Office Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949030)

Office Web Components remote code execution (KB 933103)

Office 2008 for Mac

Excel Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949029 )

Office 2004 for Mac

Excel Remote Code Execution issue (KB 949029 )

Office remote code execution issue (KB 949030)

The Office Web Components problem also affects some versions of Visual Studio .NET, Biztalk Server, Commerce Server and even the now obscure Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2000 Service Pack 2 See http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS08-017.mspx for details.

Article posted: Tuesday, 11 March 2008

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