LibreOffice Calc External Data Link Firebird File Write

Executive Summary

LibreOffice Calc allows linking a cell range to an external data source, which is saved in the document. An attacker could exploit this to make the document open an embedded Firebird database that writes a file to any writable location on the user's system. In fixed versions, the database can only access files within its own private directory.

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability involves LibreOffice Calc linking to external data sources and potentially writing files outside intended directories. To detect it, check LibreOffice Calc documents for external data links using commands like grep or strings to search for suspicious file paths in .ods files. Review user-writable directories for unexpected files created by LibreOffice processes.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability could allow an attacker to write malicious files to arbitrary locations on your system if you open a specially crafted LibreOffice Calc document. This might lead to code execution, data theft, or system compromise depending on the attacker's goals.

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Compliance Impact

The vulnerability allows an embedded Firebird database to write files to arbitrary user-writable locations, which could lead to unauthorized data access or exfiltration. This may violate GDPR's data protection principles (integrity and confidentiality) and HIPAA's security rule (protection of electronic protected health information) if sensitive data is exposed or improperly handled.

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Mitigation Strategies

Update LibreOffice to a fixed version where embedded Firebird databases can only access their private directory. Avoid opening documents from untrusted sources.

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