“The database password is encrypted and stored in the header of a database file. In Access versions 95 and 97 encryption was insecure and a single byte change in the header was enough to remove the password.” (Robinson, 1)
“If a database header gets corrupted (usually happens when a databases is opened and saved using a text editor, MS Word is a popular choice) Access might erroneously report the database password protected instead of damaged.” (Robinson, 1)
*sum* Security Accounts Passwords
“The most powerful yet complex way to secure a database is to set up user-level security. If user-level security is defined, the members of a workgroup are recorded in user and group accounts that are stored in a Microsoft Access workgroup information file (also known as System Database).” (Robinson, 1)
“Each user and group account has its own unique Access Security ID (SID) that is created from user or group name, Personal ID and Workgroup ID. There are also some predefined SIDs that remain the same for all the Workgroups: ‘Admin’ and ‘guest’ accounts, and ‘Guests’, ‘Users’ groups. Each workgroup information file contains MSysAccounts table that stores all user and group account names, encrypted user passwords and SIDs.” (Robinson, 2)
“Access uses SIDs to check user’s permissions. Each database has MSysACEs table (both Hidden and System, not visible by default) with permissions information for all the objects in the database. In the table there’s a list of SID/applicable permissions pairs for each database object. Before a user attempts any action on a database object MS Access (or Jet Engine to be exact) scans MSysACEs table using current user SID (and all the SIDs of user’s groups) to verify permissions for the action.” (Robinson, 2)
Update Patch
“Microsoft has released an updated patch that eliminates security vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Jet database engine. A patch originally was released in August 1999, but an additional variant of one vulnerability, the text I-ISAM vulnerability, was subsequently discovered. The new variant could allow a database query to delete files on a user’s computer. This bulletin has been re-released to discuss the vulnerabilities in their entirety.” (InfiniSource, 1)
“The vulnerabilities in total could affect any application that runs atop Jet, and could allow a database query to take virtually any action on a user’s computer. Microsoft recommends that all customers who are running applications that use Jet, especially users of Microsoft Office 97 and Office 2000, install the patch. Customers who applied the original patch should apply the new one to ensure that they are fully protected against all variants. Customers who did not previously apply the patch need only apply the new version. Jet is a database engine used by Microsoft products such as Microsoft Office97 and Office2000.” (InfiniSource, 2)
Two vulnerabilities exist in Jet:
*sum* “The VBA Shell vulnerability, which affects all versions of Jet except Jet 4.0. An operating system command embedded within a database query could be executed when the query is processed. This would allow a spreadsheet, database, or other application file that contained such a query to take virtually any action on the user’s computer when the query was executed.” (InfiniSource, 2)
*sum* “The Text I-ISAM vulnerability, which affects all versions of Jet. Jet provides a way to modify the contents of text files, as a way of allowing data exchange between it and other systems. However, a malicious user could use this capability to modify system files via a database query. The original patch for this vulnerability allowed “drop table” operations to be used, which could allow files on the user’s computer to be deleted; the new patch eliminates this variant. “(InfiniSource, 2)
“Microsoft Office uses the Jet engine, and Office users are particularly at risk from these vulnerabilities. (The VBA Shell vulnerability affects all versions of Office prior to Office2000, and also affects one member of the Office2000 suite, Access2000. The Text I-ISAM vulnerability affects all versions of Office). The vulnerabilities are an especially serious threat to Office users for three reasons:” (InfiniSource, 3)
1. Scenarios for exploiting these vulnerabilities via Office documents are publicly known.
2. The ubiquity of Office would make it an attractive target for mounting attacks via these vulnerabilities.
3. The ability of Office documents to perform Document Object Hosting would permit users to be attacked simply by visiting a malicious user’s Web site.
“Microsoft Jet also is used by several other Microsoft products, as well as many third party applications. However, the ability to exploit this vulnerability through these products is highly dependent on the specific application. Although Microsoft has not identified a means of exploiting these vulnerabilities through any Microsoft products except Office, we recommend that all customers who have Microsoft Jet installed on their computer update it. This will ensure that they are protected against any possible attacks that may be developed.
Affected Software Versions “(InfiniSource, 3)
*sum* Microsoft Jet, all versions Note: Jet serves as the database engine for a number of Microsoft products, including but not limited to:
*sum* Microsoft Office
*sum* Microsoft Visual Studio
*sum* Microsoft Publisher
*sum* Microsoft Streets & Trips
“Jet also serves as the database engine for many third-party software products. The patch does not require any change to any of the applications that use Jet; instead, it operates directly on the Jet database engine and restores proper functionality to it. “(InfiniSource, 3)
What is In the Future?
“Developers and architects designing new applications don?t want to get half way through the implementation phase only to discover that a new Microsoft-promoted technology solves their problems with less code and with better functionality. With this in mind, consider that ADO are certain to play a very important role in future data access strategies. As such ADO should always be considered before committing to any long-term strategy. While ADO is still under development, we know that it will eventually have all of RDO (Remote Data Object) 2.0 ?s functionality. Much of that work is expected to be done in the next few quarters. ” (Microsoft Choosing, 9)
“So, if a new design is underway, consider ADO. If its current implementation is adequate, given the state of the software as described below, then use ADO. If, however, it falls short and you can?t wait, use RDO for relational data sources and DAO for ISAM data sources. The following diagram shows how ADO uses OLE DB (defines interfaces for accessing and manipulating all types of data), as RDO uses ODBC to access its data sources.” (Microsoft Choosing, 10)
b91
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