Forwarded from: Marjorie Simmons <lawyer@private> http://www.techweb.com/wire/ebiz/174910093 By Gregg Keizer TechWeb News December 09, 2005 An unknown security researcher tried to sell a vulnerability in Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet program on eBay, but the online auction site pulled the listing late Thursday. The unusual route to vulnerability profit-taking was squashed by eBay after the listing--offered by someone only identified as "fearwall"--was bid up to just under $60. According to the since-yanked listing, the zero-day vulnerability in Excel had been reported to Microsoft on Tuesday, Dec. 6. "All the details were submitted to Microsoft, and the reply was received indicating that they may start working on it," wrote the seller. "It can be assumed that no patch addressing this vulnerability will be available within the next few months." The unpatched vulnerability is in the way that Excel, the popular spreadsheet included in all editions of Microsoft's Office suite, validates the data in some worksheets when it parses files. "The vulnerability can be exploited to compromise a user's PC," claimed the seller. He also took several potshots at Microsoft, saying that the opening bid of $.01 was "a fair value estimation for any Microsoft product" and offered a 10 percent discount to any Microsoft employee who mentioned the discount code "LINUXRULZ." A spokeswoman for Microsoft confirmed that the listing on eBay was for a real bug in Excel. "The Microsoft Security Research Center has not been made aware of any attacks attempting to use the reported vulnerability or customer impact at this time, but [it] will continue to investigate the public reports to help provide additional guidance for customers," she said in an e-mail to TechWeb. The spokeswoman also said that Microsoft's researchers were investigating the vulnerability, and might (or might not) release either a fix or a security advisory in the future. "The company is working with eBay to determine the appropriate course of action," against the seller, she also said. _________________________________________ Earn your Master's degree in Information Security ONLINE www.msia.norwich.edu/csi Study IA management practices and the latest infosec issues. Norwich University is an NSA Center of Excellence.
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