Software Engineering Institute

Microsoft Word contains a buffer overflow in the routine that processes fonts. An remote attacker may be able to trigger the buffer overflow by persuading a user to access a Word document containing a specially crafted font.

For more information about affected versions of Microsoft Word, please refer to MS05-035. Note that this advisory supplants MS05-023.

By convincing a user to open a specially-crafted Word document, an attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user or cause Microsoft Word to terminate.

Apply An Update
Microsoft has addressed this issue in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-035.Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-035 suggests the following workaround:

Do Not Open Word Documents from Unknown or Untrusted Sources

Exploitation occurs by accessing a specially crafted Word document file (typically .doc). By only accessing Word documents from trusted or known sources, the chances of exploitation are reduced.

In addition, to further as a general good security practice:

Do Not Follow Unsolicited Links

In order to convince users to visit their sites, attackers often use URL encoding, IP address variations, long URLs, intentional misspellings, and other techniques to create misleading links. Do not click on unsolicited links received in email, instant messages, web forums, or internet relay chat (IRC) channels. Type URLs directly into the browser to avoid these misleading links. While these are generally good security practices, following these behaviors will not prevent exploitation of this vulnerability in all cases, particularly if a trusted site has been compromised or allows cross-site scripting.