Potential MAJOR bug in KB969604?

T

ThirtySix Software

KB969604 for Word 2007 was released on 6/8 and was installed on my machine a
couple days ago. Since then, any time I save a document in Word 2007, any
document variables in the document become corrupt. If I uninstall KB969604
then the problem goes away. When I reinstall KB969604 the problem comes back.

With KB969604 uninstalled, doc variables are properly saved in the
settings.xml file as below:

<w:docVars><w:docVar w:name="MyVar" w:val="This is a test value for a
variable"/></w:docVars>

However, with KB969604 installed, doc variables become corrupted when saved.
For example:

<w:docVars><w:docVar w:name="MyVar"
w:val="d???_?????????Ä?????????????"/></w:docVars>

We've been able to reproduce this on multiple machines.

You can use the steps below to reproduce this:

* See if this KB is installed (it was released on 6/8) ... if not, it can be
installed from here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...08-4c28-4cab-a4d0-4ed3fd696473&displaylang=en

* Open a Word 2007 doc and create a doc variable ... you can do this by
creating a simple macro from the Developer tab, then execute the macro ...
the macro just needs to be this:

Sub Macro1()
ActiveDocument.Variables.Add Name:="MyVar", Value:="This is a test value
for a variable"
End Sub

* Save and close your doc ... change the file extension to "zip" and unzip
it ... open the "~/word/settings.xml" file and see if your variable is valid
or not.

* If it's corrupted, then uninstall the KB from Add/Remove programs (make
sure the "Show updates" checkbox is selected at the top of the dialog).

* Repeat the above steps with a new doc and see if your variable is corrupted.

If this is a defect, then it's a major one as all doc variables become
corrupted on save. Note that the variables only become corrupted on save ...
in memory, the variables are fine ... it's only when the docx is written out
that they become corrupted.

Can others reproduce this?
 
J

Jay Freedman

Yes, it is known -- at least out here in the world outside the Microsoft campus.

We reported this bug last month when the suspect part of the update was
available only as a hotfix (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969961). That report
is still open and unacknowledged. Despite that report, the hotfix evidently was
rolled into the security update's general release.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all
may benefit.

On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:26:01 -0700, ThirtySix Software <ThirtySix
 
T

ThirtySix Software

Suzanne/Jay - Thanks for the reply.

This really sucks, as we have add-ins that we have developed that rely on
doc variables for data storage. Any recommendations for how we can push MS on
this? Is there a defect logged out there somewhere that we can chime in on,
as this will impact all of our clients.
 
D

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

Maybe we should get as many people as possible to submit the following
feedback via
https://feedback.office.microsoft.com/default.aspx?productkey=office2007&scrx=1.:

Security Update KB969604 corrupts Document Variables!

The impact of the bug is well stated in the thread starting with Message-ID:
<[email protected]> in
microsoft.public.word.docmanagement ("Potential MAJOR bug in KB969604").

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com
 
C

Chris

This is not a "Potential Major bug" it is very real and very Major. It will
be affecting 1000's of applications world wide. This update needs to be
withdrawn by Microsoft immediately.
 
T

ThirtySix Software

Thanks to all for the replies.

If anyone has a URL to an official bug/issue report that has been submitted
to MS please let me know. I'd like to point some folks to this if possible.
 
T

ThirtySix Software

FYI, I got this reply from MS on the Partner forum:


Dear Partner,

Thank you for posting in our Partner Online Technical Community.

From your description, I understand that any document variables in the
document become corrupt after installing the update KB969604 for Word 2007.
The document variables become normal after uninstalling the update KB969604.
If there has been any misunderstanding, please let me know.

I am sorry for any inconvenience you have encountered. According to the
steps you listed, I am able to reproduce the issue after installing the
update KB969604 on my test machine. To address your concern, I have sent an
email to our Product Team to report this issue.

In the meantime, you are also welcomed to provide your feedback directly to
the product groups via the link below:

https://support.microsoft.com/commo...url=http://www.microsoft.com/ireland/contact/

If there is any update, I will post it in the community.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

Well, let's hope the PG will be more responsive to Steven Du's email than
they have been to the reports on Connect.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org
 
T

ThirtySix Software

Another brief update in the partner forum from Steven Du at MS that I thought
I'd share ... sounds like MS is looking at this.

=====

Our Product Team told me that they are in the process of investigating this
issue and will try them best to work out a solution soon. If there is any
update from our Product Team, I will post it in the community.

Thank you for your patience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards,

Steven Du
Partner Online Technical Community
 
T

ThirtySix Software

FYI, another update from an internal MS contact. This issue is being fixed.

====

I received some details from our Security team. This is a known issue and
they are working on a hotfix at this time. Additional details (KB article,
hotfix, etc.) should be forthcoming soon. I will keep you posted.
 
G

Graham Mayor

Next time you communicate with your pet contact, perhaps you could ask if
the fix will require the errant KB969604 to be re-installed before it can be
fixed and whether it will fix the identical problem in Hotfix KB 969961? It
seems that 969604 rolled in the part of the Hotfix that caused the problem
:( Currently the only 'fix' is to ensure that neither of these KB updates
are installed

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
 
G

grammatim

Yesterday I happened to come across the "Check Updates" line in the
Office Button somewhere and discovered that Office SP2 was _not_
installed in the general updating last week (which installed lots of
stuff, like security updates, in Vista). Obviously I was lucky -- but
why would MS not have done this to my Office overnight, while it did
it to my Windows?
 
T

ThirtySix Software

Graham -

The only direct contact we've had with MS is Steven Du over at the MS
partner forum
(http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/partnerofficeword/threads).

The internal info posted above came via someone else who has more "ins" w/
MS than we do.

FYI, for those who can't access the partner forum, Steven has posted an
update:

=====

Dear Partner,

I got an update from our Product Team that a solution of this issue has been
found and our Product Team is testing a hotfix. The possible hotfix ID is
KB970942 and I think it will be published soon.

Thank you for your patience.
 
G

Graham Mayor

OK Thanks for the update.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
 
C

Chris

we are beta testing a fix for this from MS, it is looking good and applying
this with KB969604 installed resolves the issue (no uninstall required). We
are under the impression this will be more generally available towards the
end of the Month, so its not far away.
 

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