Compliance Impact

The CSV Injection vulnerability in Traccar allows attackers to inject malicious spreadsheet formulas into exported CSV files, which can lead to arbitrary command execution or data exfiltration when opened by managers or administrators.

Such unauthorized data access or exfiltration could potentially violate data protection regulations like GDPR or HIPAA, which require safeguarding personal and sensitive data against unauthorized disclosure or processing.

Therefore, this vulnerability poses a risk to compliance with these standards by enabling attackers to exploit exported data files to compromise confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information.

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Executive Summary

CVE-2026-27644 is a CSV Injection (Formula Injection) vulnerability in the Traccar GPS tracking software, specifically affecting the CSV export functionality in versions 6.11.1 through 6.13.0.

The vulnerability occurs because position data, including user-controlled device and computed attributes, is written directly to CSV output without proper escaping or sanitization.

An attacker can inject malicious spreadsheet formulas into these exported fields. When a manager or administrator opens the exported CSV file in spreadsheet software such as Excel, LibreOffice Calc, or Google Sheets, these formulas can execute.

This execution can lead to arbitrary command execution, data exfiltration, phishing attacks, or corruption of the CSV structure.

The root cause is the lack of proper escaping or neutralization of formula elements in the CSV export code, specifically in the CsvExportProvider.java file.

The vulnerability has been patched in version 6.13.0 by implementing proper CSV escaping or neutralization techniques.

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Impact Analysis

If you use the affected versions of Traccar and export position data to CSV files, an attacker could inject malicious spreadsheet formulas into the exported data.

When a manager or administrator opens the exported CSV file in spreadsheet software, these formulas can execute, potentially leading to:

• Arbitrary command execution on the user's system.
• Data exfiltration, where sensitive information could be leaked.
• Phishing attacks by manipulating spreadsheet content.
• Corruption or disruption of CSV file structure, affecting data integrity.

The vulnerability requires low privileges to exploit but does require user interaction (opening the CSV file).

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by examining exported CSV files from the Traccar system for the presence of unescaped spreadsheet formulas in position data or device attributes.

Specifically, look for CSV fields starting with characters like '=', '+', '-', or '@' which indicate potential formula injection.

You can use command-line tools to search for such patterns in exported CSV files. For example, using grep on Linux or macOS:

• grep -E '^(=|\+|-|@)' exported_file.csv

Additionally, scanning logs or monitoring network traffic for CSV export requests from versions 6.11.1 to 6.13.0 can help identify if vulnerable exports are being generated.

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Mitigation Strategies

The immediate mitigation step is to upgrade the Traccar software to version 6.13.0 or later, where this vulnerability has been patched.

If upgrading is not immediately possible, avoid opening exported CSV files from affected versions in spreadsheet software without first sanitizing or escaping the data.

Implement CSV escaping or prefix potentially dangerous fields with a single quote to neutralize formulas before opening or sharing CSV files.

Restrict access to CSV exports to trusted users only, and educate users about the risks of opening untrusted CSV files.

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