URGENT: Microsoft Acknowledges Serious Bug
In Update for Office 2007

THE PROBLEM

On June 8, Microsoft released Security Update KB969604 for Office 2007.   Shortly thereafter, it was reported that the update causes "Document Variabless" to become corrupted when saving in .docx format.  A few days later, Microsoft acknowledged the problem, and on June 16th, they stated that their product development team was working on a fix.

Many kinds of Word Add-ins and Macro packages depend on Document Variables to store information.  This includes Best Authority.  If you are using any affected product with Word 2007, and the update is installed, the problem will occur when you save your document.  In the case of Best Authority, the basic document contents will remain accessible, but you will lose the work you did in BA.

WHO IS AFFECTED?

If you are using Word 2007, with Best Authority (or any other package which uses Document Variables) you will be affected, IF the update has been installed.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

We are recommending that all users of Word 2007 uninstall KB969604 immediately, and block re-installation until further notice.  The problem is also present in Hotfix 969961, which should be uninstalled as well, if you have installed it.

If by any chance you are using an earlier version of Word in a split-version configuration (e.g. with Outlook 2007), or if you’re saving documents in .docx format, we would also recommend that you also look for the update and consider removing it.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

When L&J can determine that Microsoft has released a fix, either by re-issuing the same KB or by issuing another one, we will let you know.

For further information, see the following thread, with contributions from a number of Word MVPs:

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.word.docmanagement&tid=72770e55-f6e6-44b7-9703-edb277152f27&cat=&lang=&cr=&sloc=&m=1&p=1

If you see anything posted to that thread after July 1, it is an update beyond the information in this message.

If you have any questions, please call L&J tech support at 703-771-8185.