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LibreOffice and OpenOffice Flaws Let Malicious Spreadsheets Run Code Without Macro Warnings

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LibreOffice and OpenOffice Flaws Let Malicious Spreadsheets Run Code Without Macro Warnings

A malicious spreadsheet can make LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice run an attacker's code as soon as the file is opened, security researchers have shown. There is no warning first, of the kind either program shows before it runs a macro.

The attack works only when the program's Java support is enabled. So far, it has only been shown as a proof of concept, and there are no reports of its use in real attacks.

LibreOffice has already fixed the flaw, which it tracks as CVE-2026-63277, in updates released on October 5. It recommends that users move to version 26.2.5 or 26.8.0. Versions before those are affected.

Apache OpenOffice has not fixed the matching flaw, which it tracks as CVE-2026-59265. Every version up to and including its current release, 4.1.16, is affected, and the project says a fix is expected in version 4.1.17, which is still being tested.

Until then, Apache OpenOffice users can block the attack by turning off Java in the program's settings, or by not opening spreadsheets they do not trust.

The attack combines features that each work as intended on their own. A LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice Calc spreadsheet can hold a "database range", a block of cells that pulls in data from an outside source and refreshes it by itself. That outside source can be a separate database file, called an ODB, named by a web address written into the spreadsheet.

When the spreadsheet is opened, the range refreshes and the program downloads the ODB from that web address.


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