Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2015-2753
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 · uneditedFreeXL before 1.0.0i allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack corruption) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted sector in a workbook.
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 confidenceFreeXL before version 1.0.0i contains a vulnerability in its workbook parsing logic where processing a crafted Excel file with malicious sector data leads to stack corruption. This stack-based buffer overflow can potentially be exploited for arbitrary code execution by a remote attacker who tricks a user into opening a specially crafted .xls file.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 7.0<= 1.0.0hCVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine installed FreeXL versionRun 'freexl --version' or check the library version via 'dpkg -l libfreexl*' on Debian systems, or query the shared library with 'ldd --version' and inspect the libfreexl.so file metadataAffected if Version is 1.0.0h or earlier, or if the version cannot be determined and the package is from an unpatched Debian 7.0 system
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Identify applications using FreeXLSearch for applications or tools that link against libfreexl (e.g., 'ldd /path/to/application | grep freexl' or check GDAL/OGR installations which may use FreeXL for .xls reading)Affected if Any application that processes Excel .xls files is linked to a vulnerable FreeXL library version
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Inspect library file for version infoLocate libfreexl.so (typically in /usr/lib/ or /usr/local/lib/) and run 'file libfreexl.so' or check the file name and metadata for version indicatorsAffected if The library file is named or versioned as 1.0.0h or earlier, or originates from Debian 7.0 without security updates
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Verify if untrusted Excel files are processedReview application logs or audit trails for .xls file processing, check if applications accept .xls input from network sources or user uploadsAffected if Applications routinely parse .xls files from untrusted or external sources using the vulnerable library
A system is affected if it runs FreeXL version 1.0.0h or earlier (including Debian 7.0 packaged versions) and processes Excel .xls files with the vulnerable workbook parsing code.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate FreeXL to version 1.0.0i or later, which contains the patch for proper sector data validation. Users should exercise caution when opening Excel files from untrusted sources until the library is updated.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-2753 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-2753 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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