Permissions on Office registry key

[Guest]

I have a third party vendor that requested a change in the registry so

their COM add in would work in Office:



Registry Permissions (Word)

Full Control permission to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\OFFICE



This appears to be a gigantic security risk, especially in an environment

where the users are locked down and do not have admin rights, so I have two

questions that need to be answered to reply to the vendor:



1. What documentation/security guide can I provide to the vendor that states

that VERY BAD THINGS will/could happen after making such a global change?

2. Which registry key for Word 2007 should be changed to give the local

users group full rights to the add in COM object at the most specific

registry key? I have tried HKLM\Software\Microsoft Office\Word\Addins, but

this didn't solve the issue.



PS for a similar horror story of changing registry permissions given by

untrained tech support see

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/9982-2-modified-registry-keys-restore-permissions



I also respect and agree with the standard Microsoft advice for using

registry tools:

WARNING: Using the Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-

wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows to correct them.

Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of the

Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.

 

[steven du]

Dear Partner,



To answer your questions:



1. There is no official document to tell the bad effect after modifying the

global registry settings because there will appear unexpected problems like

system crash or function failure if the registry keys are corrupted or set

incorrectly. It is difficult for us to list all potential issues.



2. I am not quite clear about this question. Please help to describe the

symptom in detail. As I understand, users who do not have admin permission

cannot access the COM add-in in Office but your vendor would like to change

this behavior by modifying the registry key. Am I right?



Have a ncie day.



Regards,



Steven Du



Microsoft Online Support

Microsoft Global Technical Support Center

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--------------------

| From:

| Subject: Permissions on Office registry key

| Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 15:19:00 -0700



|

| I have a third party vendor that requested a change in the registry so

| their COM add in would work in Office:

|

| Registry Permissions (Word)

| Full Control permission to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\OFFICE

|

| This appears to be a gigantic security risk, especially in an environment

| where the users are locked down and do not have admin rights, so I have

two

| questions that need to be answered to reply to the vendor:

|

| 1. What documentation/security guide can I provide to the vendor that

states

| that VERY BAD THINGS will/could happen after making such a global change?

| 2. Which registry key for Word 2007 should be changed to give the local

| users group full rights to the add in COM object at the most specific

| registry key? I have tried HKLM\Software\Microsoft Office\Word\Addins,

but

| this didn't solve the issue.

|

| PS for a similar horror story of changing registry permissions given by

| untrained tech support see

|

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/9982-2-modified-registry-keys-restore-perm

issions

|

| I also respect and agree with the standard Microsoft advice for using

| registry tools:

| WARNING: Using the Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-

| wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows to correct them.

| Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of

the

| Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.

|

|