CVE-2020-12801
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 · uneditedIf LibreOffice has an encrypted document open and crashes, that document is auto-saved encrypted. On restart, LibreOffice offers to restore the document and prompts for the password to decrypt it. If the recovery is successful, and if the file format of the recovered document was not LibreOffice's default ODF file format, then affected versions of LibreOffice default that subsequent saves of the document are unencrypted. This may lead to a user accidentally saving a MSOffice file format document unencrypted while believing it to be encrypted. This issue affects: LibreOffice 6-3 series versions prior to 6.3.6; 6-4 series versions prior to 6.4.3.
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 confidenceWhen LibreOffice recovers an encrypted document after a crash, if the document uses a non-ODF format (such as MSOffice formats like .docx or .xlsx), the recovery process drops the encryption setting for subsequent saves. This causes users to unknowingly save what they believe to be encrypted documents as unencrypted files.
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>= 6.3.0, < 6.3.6>= 6.4.0, < 6.4.3= 15.1CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
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.
-
Check installed LibreOffice versionRun ' libreoffice --version ' or check the package manager (e.g., ' rpm -qi libreoffice-core ' on OpenSUSE) to determine the exact version numberAffected if The version falls within 6.3.0 to 6.3.5 or 6.4.0 to 6.4.2 (the vulnerable ranges)
-
Identify non-ODF documents opened recentlyCheck user-recently-opened files with non-ODF extensions (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx, .doc, .xls, .ppt) in the application's recent documents or file system recent activityAffected if Non-ODF format documents were opened after a potential crash scenario
-
Verify encryption status on recovered non-ODF documentsFor each non-ODF document that may have been recovered after a crash, open it in LibreOffice and check if encryption is enabled via File > Properties > General > 'Encrypt with password' is unchecked, or inspect the file directly for absence of encryption markersAffected if A previously encrypted non-ODF document now has encryption disabled after being recovered from a crash and subsequently saved
You are affected if you run a vulnerable LibreOffice version (6.3.x before 6.3.6 or 6.4.x before 6.4.3), had an encrypted non-ODF document that was recovered after a crash, and subsequently saved that document without re-enabling encryption.
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 data6.3.66.4.3
Upgrade to LibreOffice 6.3.6 or 6.4.3 and later. For existing documents recovered from crashes, manually verify and re-enable encryption before saving if using non-ODF formats.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12801 — 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-2020-12801 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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