WD98: Summary Information Under Properties Is Not Encrypted (223027)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
This article was previously published under Q223027 SYMPTOMS
Information from the properties of a Word document (on the File menu, click Properties) is not encrypted and can be read if a password-protected file is opened using a text editor (for example, Notepad).
The contents of the following fields of the document properties are included in the file data stream and are not encrypted with the document text:
Summary TabTitle Subject Author Manager
Company Category Keywords Comments Hyperlink base Template
Custom TabChecked by Client
Date completed Department Destination Disposition Division
Document number Editor Forward to Group Language
Mailstop Matter Office Owner Project Publisher
Purpose Received from Recorded by Recorded date Reference
Source Status Telephone number Typist
or any other custom field and value you add to the Custom tab.
Any text, value, or path information that is entered into any of the above listed fields appears when a password-protected file is opened in a text editor. The most severe security issues are the result of Word automatically
populating three of these fields without user intervention. - The first 125 characters of the first paragraph are automatically included as the title if no information has been manually entered.
- The author's name is entered from the User Information tab (on the Tools menu, click Preferences).
- The company name from the installation is automatically entered.
WORKAROUND
On the File menu, point to Properties and click the Summary tab. Clear any
fields that would cause security concerns for the document. Repeat these steps for the Custom tab.
STATUSMicrosoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 10/4/2002 |
---|
Keywords: | kbbug KB223027 |
---|
|