HowTo-Outlook

The September security and rollup update has been made available for all Click-to-Run installations of Outlook 2016, Outlook 2019, Outlook 2021 and Outlook as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription.

It contains 4 security updates for Excel (1), Visio (2), and Publisher (1).

In addition, it contains 7 non-security fixes related to Outlook Monthly Channel Version 2407.

• We fixed an issue that caused users to be unable to send mails while the dlpwaitonsendtimeout registry key was set. (applies to Data Loss Prevention)
• We fixed an issue that caused the buttons on the Reminders dialog to be truncated with some fonts.
• We resolved an issue by implementing an admin-controlled policy for MailTips. This policy ensures that users receive notifications when their emails are blocked, restricted, or contain sensitive information.
• We fixed an issue that caused Copilot drafts to display incorrectly with non-Latin character sets.
• We fixed an issue that caused users to be unable to see the categories they applied to an email until after they closed the email window.
• Resolved an issue where characters could appear corrupted when opening RTF emails. (Word)
• We fixed a problem specific to Rich Text Format emails, where images inserted into the email would become degraded when the email was saved as a draft. (Office)

New! Semi-Annual Enterprise (Preview) Version 2408

Version 2408 has now also been released to the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview). Although it doesn’t contain any new features for Outlook, there is one for Word that is Outlook related. It also contains over 40 fixes related to Outlook. Some highlights are;

• Assign Tasks (Word)
  You can facilitate collaboration and stay organized by creating and assigning tasks directly from within your Word document using @mentions in comments. The people you assign the tasks to will receive email notifications, letting them know they need to take action. Ready to give it a try? Open an existing document stored on OneDrive or SharePoint. Highlight the text that contains the information you want to comment on, select New Comment, write your comment and type @ followed by the name of the team member you want to tag. Then, press Ctrl + Enter to post your comment and select the Assign to check box to convert your comment into a task.
• We added support for converting some COM add-ins to Web add-ins.
• We fixed an issue that caused users to see no prompt to send updates to attendees after removing attendees from a meeting on a shared calendar where the location of the meeting was set.

Current versions and build numbers

Based on your release channel, you’ll be updated to the following version;

• Microsoft 365 Apps, Outlook 2016 Retail, Outlook 2019 Retail, Outlook 2021 Retail
  Version 2408 (Build 17928.20156)
• Monthly Enterprise
  Version 2407 (Build 17830.20210)
  Version 2406 (Build 17726.20222)
• Semi-Annual Enterprise (Preview)
  Version 2408 (Build 17928.20156)
• Semi-Annual Enterprise
  Version 2402 (Build 17328.20588)
  Version 2308 (Build 16731.20810) 
• Outlook LTSC 2021
  Version 2108 (Build 14332.20771)
• Outlook 2019 Volume Licensed
  Version 1808 (Build 10414.20002)

Note: Depending on your installation type, this update can be installed via the Update Now button in Outlook itself or the Microsoft Store. This update does not apply to msi-based installations of Office 2016.

Microsoft has released the August 2024 feature update of Outlook for Microsoft 365 Apps in the Current Channel.

There are 2 new features which apply to all major Office applications and 3 fixes for Outlook.

• Use sensitivity labels in Microsoft 365 apps when connected experiences are disabled
  Your organization can now disable connected experiences for privacy concerns without impacting data security policies, such as sensitivity labels. Services associated with Microsoft Purview (e.g. sensitivity labels, rights management, …) are no longer controlled by policy settings to manage privacy controls for Microsoft 365 Apps. Instead, these services will rely on their existing security admin controls in Purview portals.
• Open locked records as read-only
  Files with retention labels marking them as locked records will now open as read-only to prevent user edits.
• We fixed an issue that caused default SMIME labels to fail to apply when a user replies to or forwards an unlabeled message.
• We fixed an issue that caused the buttons on the Reminders dialog to be truncated with some fonts.
• We fixed an issue that caused users to be unable to send mails while the dlpwaitonsendtimeout registry key was set. (applies to Data Loss Prevention)

Note: Depending on your installation type, this update can be installed via the Update Now button in Outlook or the Microsoft Store and updates Outlook to: Version 2408 (Build 17928.20114).

The August security and rollup update has been made available for all Click-to-Run installations of Outlook 2016, Outlook 2019, Outlook 2021 and Outlook as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription.

It contains 7 security updates for Excel (2), Outlook (1), PowerPoint (1), Project (1), Visio (1), and Shared Office Components (1). The details about the Outlook vulnerability can be found below;

• CVE-2024-38173: Microsoft Outlook Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
  • This vulnerability is currently not publicly disclosed nor exploited.
  • An attacker must gain access to the victim user’s Microsoft Outlook account by compromising or stealing their login credential and then install a malicious form prior to exploiting the vulnerability successfully.
  • Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to open a malicious email with an affected version of Microsoft Outlook and then perform specific actions to trigger the vulnerability.
  • The Preview Pane is an attack vector.
  • The Exploitability Assessment is rated: Exploitation Less Likely.

In addition, it contains 10 non-security fixes related to Outlook Monthly Channel Version 2406.

• We resolved an issue where characters don’t appear correctly in Text Box Gallery.
• We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to exit unexpectedly when using Copilot Summarize.
• We fixed an issue that caused users to see Outlook exit unexpectedly when declining a meeting and sending a response.
• We fixed an issue where a MailTip would disappear and render an attachment not detectable after an email with an attachment containing sensitive information was forwarded.
• We fixed an issue that caused Copilot drafts to display incorrectly with non-Latin character sets.
• We fixed an issue that caused users to be unable to see the categories they applied to an email until after they closed the email window.
• We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to exit unexpectedly shortly after launch for some users.
• We fixed an issue that prevented users from sending mail for a few hours after add-ins with on-send events were updated.
• Resolved an issue in Word where pasting data from Word or Excel to an Outlook template as a link would give an error message. (Word)
• Resolved an issue when assigning a Task in Outlook, characters may not render correctly. (Word)

  Based on your release channel, you’ll be updated to the following version;

• Microsoft 365 Apps, Outlook 2016 Retail, Outlook 2019 Retail, Outlook 2021 Retail
  Version 2406 (Build 17830.20166)
• Monthly Enterprise
  Version 2406 (Build 17726.20206)
  Version 2405 (Build 17628.20206)
• Semi-Annual Enterprise (Preview)
  Version 2402 (Build 17328.20550)
• Semi-Annual Enterprise
  Version 2402 (Build 17328.20550)
  Version 2308 (Build 16731.20792)
  Version 2302 (Build 16130.21094) 
• Outlook LTSC 2021
  Version 2108 (Build 14332.20763)
• Outlook 2019 Volume Licensed
  Version 1808 (Build 10413.20020)

Note: Depending on your installation type, this update can be installed via the Update Now button in Outlook itself or the Microsoft Store. This update does not apply to msi-based installations of Office 2016.

We just started August but Microsoft still owed us the July 2024 feature update of Outlook for Microsoft 365 Apps in the Current Channel.

For the 3rd month in a row, there is no new feature for any of the Office applications. There are a good few fixes across all apps though. 

In total, there are 3 fixes for Outlook, and 1 fix in Word and 1 fix in shared Office components which also relate to Outlook.

• We fixed an issue that caused users to be unable to see the categories they applied to an email until after they closed the email window.
• We fixed an issue that caused Copilot drafts to display incorrectly with non-Latin character sets.
• We resolved an issue by implementing an admin-controlled policy for MailTips. This policy ensures that users receive notifications when their emails are blocked, restricted, or contain sensitive information.
• Resolved an issue where characters could appear corrupted when opening RTF emails. (Word)
• We fixed a problem specific to Rich Text Format emails, where images inserted into the email would become degraded when the email was saved as a draft. (Office)

Note: Depending on your installation type, this update can be installed via the Update Now button in Outlook or the Microsoft Store and updates Outlook to: Version 2406 (Build 17726.20126).

The July security and rollup update has been made available for all Click-to-Run installations of Outlook 2016, Outlook 2019, Outlook 2021 and Outlook as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription.

It contains 3 security updates for Access, (1), Outlook (1), and Shared Office Components (1). The details about the Outlook vulnerability can be found below;

• CVE-2024-38020: Microsoft Outlook Spoofing Vulnerability
  • This vulnerability is currently not publicly disclosed nor exploited.
  • Exploitation of the vulnerability requires that a user opens a specifically crafted file.
  • An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could allow the disclosure of NTLM hashes. 
  • The Preview Pane is not an attack vector.
  • The Exploitability Assessment is rated: Exploitation Less Likely.

In addition, it contains 2 non-security fixes related to Outlook Current Channel Version 2406, and 10 fixes related to Outlook Monthly Enterprise Version 2405.

• Version 2506
  • We resolved an issue where characters don’t appear correctly in Text Box Gallery.
  • Resolved an issue when assigning a Task in Outlook, characters may not render correctly. (Word)
• Version 2505
  • We fixed an issue that caused Outlook users with E3 licenses to be unable to open protected meeting invitations without going to the web.
  • We fixed an issue that caused users to see no prompt to send updates to attendees after removing attendees from a meeting on a shared calendar where the location of the meeting was set.
  • We fixed an issue that caused users to see incorrect label information when they had 2 or more email windows open while a message with a label was displayed in the preview pane.
  • We fixed an issue that caused the “Edit Meeting” button to disappear when a series exception is the first item opened in the Outlook session.
  • We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to exit unexpectedly when using Copilot Summarize.
  • We fixed an issue that caused users to be unable to view the “Permission granted by” information on Digitally Rights Managed messages.
  • We fixed an issue that caused users to be unable to open some search results when searching their Online Archive.
  • We added support for converting some COM add-ins to Web add-ins.
  • We fixed an issue that prevented users from sending mail for a few hours after updating add-ins with on-send events.
  • Resolved an issue in Outlook where background images wouldn’t render correctly, requiring the user to scroll or click into the message for the image to appear. (Word)

Version 2402 has now also been released to the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel but currently without any Release Notes. However, going by the Release Notes of the Preview releases, there are no new features for Outlook this time.

Based on your release channel, you’ll be updated to the following version;

• Microsoft 365 Apps, Outlook 2016 Retail, Outlook 2019 Retail, Outlook 2021 Retail
  Version 2406 (Build 17726.20160)
• Monthly Enterprise
  Version 2405 (Build 17628.20188)
  Version 2404 (Build 17531.20210)
• Semi-Annual Enterprise (Preview)
  Version 2402 (Build 17328.20452)
• Semi-Annual Enterprise
  Version 2402 (Build 17328.20452)
  Version 2308 (Build 16731.20738)
  Version 2302 (Build 16130.21042) 
• Outlook LTSC 2021
  Version 2108 (Build 14332.20736)
• Outlook 2019 Volume Licensed
  Version 1808 (Build 10412.20006)

Note: Depending on your installation type, this update can be installed via the Update Now button in Outlook itself or the Microsoft Store. This update does not apply to msi-based installations of Office 2016.

A Security Update has been released for Outlook 2016. It resolves the following vulnerability;

• CVE-2024-38020: Microsoft Outlook Spoofing Vulnerability
  • This vulnerability is currently not publicly disclosed nor exploited.
  • Exploitation of the vulnerability requires that a user opens a specifically crafted file.
  • An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could allow the disclosure of NTLM hashes. 
  • The Preview Pane is not an attack vector.
  • The Exploitability Assessment is rated: Exploitation Less Likely.

View: Download information for KB5002621

Note: This update can be installed via Microsoft Update and updates Outlook to version 16.0.5456.1000. This update does not apply to Perpetual (Retail) and Microsoft 365 based installations of Office 2016.

Microsoft has released the June 2024 feature update of Outlook for Microsoft 365 Apps in the Current Channel.

Just like last month, there is no new feature for any of the Office applications. Also, it looks like 2 Outlook fixes from the previous month got revised, most likely to account for additional scenarios in which the error could occur. 

In total, there are 4 fixes for Outlook and 1 fix in Word that also relates to Outlook.

• We fixed an issue that prevented users from sending mail for a few hours after add-ins with on-send events were updated.
• We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to exit unexpectedly shortly after launch for some users.
• We fixed an issue that caused users to see Outlook exit unexpectedly when declining a meeting and sending a response.
• We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to close unexpectedly when using Copilot Summarize.
• Resolved an issue in Word where pasting data from Word or Excel to an Outlook template as a link would give an error message. (Word)

Note: Depending on your installation type, this update can be installed via the Update Now button in Outlook or the Microsoft Store and updates Outlook to: Version 2406 (Build 17726.20126).