Summary:  Several Internet Security-related resources are reporting the existence of a vulnerability in Microsoft Word that could allow a system to be compromised if a user were to open a specifically-crafted word document (in the form of an email attachment, etc).  Microsoft has released a security advisory on the issue but at the time of this writing (2PM Thursday May 25 2006) has not yet provided a patch to fix it (the vendor has provided a set of workarounds and suggested actions to minimize the risk of exploit).  

Recommended Actions:  Persons responsible for the administration of systems/users that use Microsoft Word 2002/2003/XP are strongly encouraged to read the Microsoft Security Update and related articles (links provided below) for more information on this issue.  Systems currently NOT set to use auto-updating antivirus software should be manually updated as soon as possible (definition files for this issue are available from Norton, McAffee, etc). 

ITS Actions: No specific additional actions are being taken to address this vulnerability at this time.  An update will be issued if the situation changes.

Resources:

Microsoft Security Advisory 919637:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/919637.mspx

SANS Journal entries on word vulnerability:
http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?storyid=1351
http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?storyid=1348
http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?storyid=1347

EEye advisory:
http://www.eeye.com/html/resources/newsletters/alert/pub/AL20060523.html?sb=kwkbmvamunbmvambckmn