dbcve.org
OpenofficeApplication · Apache

CVE-2010-0136

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-02-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
OpenOffice.org (OOo) 2.0.4, 2.4.1, and 3.1.1 does not properly enforce Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro security settings, which allows remote attackers to run arbitrary macros via a crafted document.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

OpenOffice.org versions 2.0.4, 2.4.1, and 3.1.1 fail to properly enforce VBA macro security settings, allowing specially crafted documents to execute arbitrary VBA macros without user consent or proper security warnings.

MitigationUpgrade OpenOffice to a patched version or disable VBA macro execution in the application settings to prevent arbitrary macro execution from untrusted documents.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
OpenofficeApplication
Affected:= 2.0.4= 2.4.1= 3.1.1
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.04= 8.10= 9.04= 9.10
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 4.0= 5.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed OpenOffice version
    Run 'soffice --version' or check the package manager (dpkg -l | grep openoffice, rpm -qa | grep openoffice) to find the installed version number
    Affected if The version is 2.0.4, 2.4.1, or 3.1.1 exactly (these are the affected versions listed)
  2. Confirm VBA macro support is present
    Check if the VBA compatibility layer is installed - look for 'vba' related packages or files in the OpenOffice program directory (on Linux check /usr/lib/openoffice or similar paths for vba*)
    Affected if VBA compatibility components are installed and available in the OpenOffice installation
  3. Verify macro execution settings are at default or low security
    Open OpenOffice Writer/Calc, go to Tools > Options > Security > Macro Security and check the security level setting, or inspect the configuration file ~/.openoffice.org/3/user/registry/data/org/openoffice/Office/Common.xcu for MacroSecurityLevel values
    Affected if Macro security level is set to 'Low' or 'Medium' (not 'High' or 'Very High') or no prompt is required for macro execution from untrusted sources

You are affected if you have OpenOffice version 2.0.4, 2.4.1, or 3.1.1 with VBA macro compatibility enabled and macro security set to allow execution without user prompts.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade OpenOffice to a patched version or disable VBA macro execution in the application settings to prevent arbitrary macro execution from untrusted documents.

Recommended fix High confidence

OpenOffice 3.2.0 or later / LibreOffice 3.3.0 or later / Ubuntu 10.04+ / Debian 6.0+

  1. 1. Back up any important documents and personal data before upgrading.
  2. 2. For OpenOffice installations: Download and install OpenOffice 3.2.0 or later from the official Apache OpenOffice website (https://www.openoffice.org/download/)
  3. 3. Alternatively, upgrade to LibreOffice (a fork of OpenOffice with active development) which contains the security fix - version 3.3.0 or later.
  4. 4. For Linux systems running affected Ubuntu versions (8.04, 8.10, 9.04, 9.10): Upgrade to a supported Ubuntu LTS version (10.04 or later) which includes patched OpenOffice packages.
  5. 5. For Linux systems running affected Debian versions (4.0, 5.0): Upgrade to Debian 6.0 (squeeze) or later which includes the patched OpenOffice.
  6. 6. After upgrading, verify macro security settings in the application: Go to Tools > Options > Security > Macro Security and ensure security level is set to 'High' or 'Very High'.
Caveat Upgrading from very old OpenOffice 2.x may require document format conversion; older extensions may be incompatible

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Openoffice Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2010-0136 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data