Two new security updates are now available to support your administrative deployments of Microsoft® PowerPoint®:

• The Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update has been revised to help provide you with increased protection against unauthorized tampering. This revised version of the PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 update includes the changes issued with the previous release, plus additional security features.
• A new update for Microsoft PowerPoint 97 has also been released to help provide the same level of protection for this application as well.

Toolbox The PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update is available from the Toolbox. You can find this downloadable file on the Office 2000 Resource Kit Downloads page.

Before installing the version for PowerPoint 2000 SR-1, you must first ensure that the computers have been upgraded to Office 2000 Service Release 1a (SR-1a).

Overview of the issue

The PowerPoint security updates help protect your organization against a vulnerability that could occur if a malicious hacker inserts special data into a PowerPoint file, and then entices a user into opening the file on their computer. The vulnerability is exposed through a built-in parsing routine that contains an unchecked buffer. If an attacker entices a user into opening a specially designed file that causes the buffer to overrun, two possible conditions could result:

• PowerPoint could crash, and the user would need to restart the application.
• The attacker may be able to use the overrun condition to cause malicious code to run on the user's computer. This code could then carry out any action specified by the attacker.

By installing the PowerPoint security updates, you can help prevent the application from opening files that attempt to overrun the buffers to introduce malicious code.

 Note   This revised version of the PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update replaces the previous version released in February 2001.

• If you have not yet installed the PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update, you can install this revised version to get the full benefit of both updates.
• If you did install the Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update before May 18, 2001, you should download and install this revised version. You do not need to uninstall the previous update.
• If you need to determine which version of PowerPoint is installed on your computers, click About Microsoft PowerPoint on the Help menu in PowerPoint 2000. If you are using a version that is earlier than Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 (9.0.5107), you should install the revised release.

The following procedures describe how to apply the updates to your administrative installation points. Separate procedures are provided for PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 and PowerPoint 97.

Applying the PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update to an administrative installation point

The administrative version of the PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update consists of two Windows Installer patch files (MSP format) packaged in one self-extracting executable. You apply the PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update to your administrative share by using a command line with specific parameters. The following table lists the MSP file names.

 Note   For best results, the update files should be applied from the console of the computer containing the administrative installation point. Make sure that the files on the share point are not in use when the updates are being applied. If there are multiple shares, you can replace the other administrative installation points with the updated administrative installation point after backing up any custom transform, Setup.ini, or other files on the share points.

To apply the PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update to an administrative installation point

1. Download Ppt2ksec_a.exe and double-click the file name to extract the two administrative update files. Refer to the table above for the file names and descriptions.
2. Connect to the server share for the administrative installation point.

   You must have write access to the administrative installation point on the server and the appropriate privileges to carry out the task.

3. On the Start menu, click Run and then type the command line for Windows Installer with the appropriate options for the PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update. Use the following syntax:

   [start] msiexec /p [path\name of update MSP file] /a [path\name of MSI file] SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb /L* [path\name of log file]

You will need to run the command line separately for each MSP file that you apply to the administrative installation point — you cannot reference multiple MSP files on the same command line. The following table describes the command-line options.

Updating client computers from an administrative installation point

After you update your administrative installation point, you must perform a recache and repair on existing client computers that use the administrative image. Any new client installations from the administrative installation point will automatically include the updated version of PowerPoint.

To update an existing client installation from an administrative installation point, run the following command line on the client computer:

start msiexec /i [path to updated .msi file on the administrative image] REINSTALL=[list of features] REINSTALLMODE=vomus /q

You can run this command line by creating a log-on script, distributing it as a batch file, deploying it via Systems Management Server, or using other means according to your practice. The options for this command line are as follows.

For the PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update, the variable [list of features] should be replaced with the following value:

PPTFiles,PPTNonBootFiles

Optionally, you can substitute the parameter REINSTALL=ALL to reinstall all components on the client computer.

 Note   If you originally installed Office 2000 on a client computer from an administrative installation point, you must follow the recache and repair procedure described above to update that client. If you update the client directly by using the end-user patch from the Office Update Web site, the client and administrative images will become out-of-sync, which may cause future updates to fail.

Applying the PowerPoint 2000 SR-1 Security Update under Windows 2000

If your administrative installation point and all of your client computers are running Microsoft® Windows® 2000, you can use IntelliMirror® technology to manage the installation of the security update.

 Note   Be sure to test all software updates in a controlled setting before modifying your administrative installation point or deploying the new version throughout your organization.

To deploy a QFE fix or update under Windows 2000

1. Apply the updates (MSP files) to the original Office administrative installation point.

   You will need to run the command line separately for each MSP file you apply to the administrative installation point — you cannot reference multiple MSP files on the same command line.

2. Open the Software Installation snap-in within the Group Policy Object (GPO) that you are using to manage the existing Office installation.
3. In the details pane, right-click the Office package, point to All Tasks, and click Redeploy application.

   The next time the Group Policy is applied to the designated users or computers, the updated files are copied to their computers.

 Note   You can redeploy a package only if it is being managed by Group Policy — that is, only if you originally installed it by using IntelliMirror software installation and maintenance or if you brought it into a managed state under Windows 2000.

Applying the PowerPoint 97 Security Update

The PowerPoint 97 Security Update can be installed on a network administrative installation point or a stand-alone computer. Before installing the update, you should make sure that the computer has first been upgraded to Office 97 SR-2.

To install the update on an administrative share, you'll need privileges to write to the network directory where the PowerPoint 97 executable resides.

To update a PowerPoint 97 administrative installation point

1. Download Ppt97sec.exe and copy it to a working directory on your computer.
2. Log on as an administrator (or as any user with Write access to the installation directory) on a workstation that runs Powerpoint from the server.
3. Close any open sessions to the Powerpoint 97 executable.
4. Run Ppt97sec.exe to install the update.

5. When you install the file, the update will first display a license agreement. Click Yes to accept the agreement and continue.

6. Open the INF file for the application, search for each of the updated files, and then update the version number information. The updated files and version numbers are as follows:

Updating PowerPoint 97 client computers from an administrative installation point

If you installed PowerPoint 97 on client computers to run locally using the network share, you can update the system in either of two ways:

• Apply the patch locally by running Ppt97sec.exe
• Reinstall PowerPoint 97 from the administrative share by using Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel.

When installing the update, you can also add the /Q switch to the command line if you want the update to install silently without user intervention.

Related links

For information on deploying the Office 2000 SR-1a Update, see Deploying Office 2000 Service Release 1 in the Office Resource Kit Journal. For more information on the PowerPoint 2000 security vulnerability, see Microsoft Security Bulletin MS01-002 PowerPoint 2000 File Parser Contains Unchecked Buffer on the Microsoft TechNet Web site.