A recently publicized vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2000 — reportedly exploited by an updated variant of an older worm — has reignited debate over how to judge an exploit’s seriousness: is severity defined by how quickly the flaw becomes known or by how many machines it can affect?

Last weekend a Symantec blog post described the newest version of the worm as a “zero-day” attack. That characterization prompted Secunia to bump its advisory to “extremely critical.” At the same time, Symantec and other security vendors continue to classify the threat as low or very low in severity.

The phrase “zero-day” is commonly used when an exploit is deployed immediately after a vulnerability is disclosed — frequently within 24 hours. In this case, Symantec’s new label applies to a sample it calls trojan.mdropper.q, but Symantec’s own advisory notes that fewer than three sites had reported seeing that specific sample in the wild. Earlier variants of the same family, however, have been observed as far back as May 2005.

An older member of the family, trojan.mdropper.b, took advantage of a Word 2000 macro-related name buffer overflow first documented in November 2003 — making that variant a long-standing exploit rather than a zero-day. Symantec says the “q” variant appears to use a different, previously undocumented flaw in Word 2000, which would explain why some vendors treat it as a new issue. Norton’s signature database still groups these strains under the trojan.mdropper name. Reportedly, Office XP and Office 2003 are not affected.

Secunia’s advisory refers to an undocumented “memory corruption error” but does not provide technical details. If the vulnerability is indeed previously unknown, the emergence of the “q” variant could have exposed a novel problem in Word 2000.

Sophos classifies the threat as W32/Mofei‑P and notes the payload behaves like a typical backdoor: it can download files, delete files, and capture screen activity (and potentially other input). Sophos updated its virus definitions to identify the sample and currently rates its prevalence as low.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, told reporters he hasn’t seen evidence of widespread propagation. He acknowledged that exploiting an unpatched Word 2000 bug helps explain why some people are calling the situation critical, but he emphasized the practical mitigation: don’t open unsolicited Word documents.

Microsoft said its security team is investigating a “possible vulnerability in Microsoft Word” but stopped short of labeling it a confirmed flaw. The company noted that exploitation requires a user to open a malicious Word document delivered as an attachment or by other means, and said it is still determining whether the activity represents a new attack or a variant of older behavior. Depending on findings, Microsoft said it would take appropriate steps, from issuing an advisory to releasing an update in its regular monthly process.

The disagreement over labels underscores a tension in security communication: “zero-day” often signals immediate, widespread danger, yet in this instance respected vendors continue to assign a low-severity rating. That contrast has left some observers questioning whether invoking a term associated with emergency alerts is helpful or simply alarmist when real-world impact appears limited.

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