CVE-2025-64405
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 · uneditedApache OpenOffice documents can contain links. A missing Authorization vulnerability in Apache OpenOffice allowed an attacker to craft a document that would cause external links to be loaded without prompt. In the affected versions of Apache OpenOffice, Calc spreadsheet containing DDE links to external files would load the contents of those files without prompting the user for permission to do so. This issue affects Apache OpenOffice: through 4.1.15. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.1.16, which fixes the issue.
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 confidenceApache OpenOffice Calc spreadsheets with DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) links to external files were loading external content without prompting the user for permission. This missing authorization check allowed malicious documents to silently fetch and display data from remote sources without user consent.
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< 4.1.16CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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.
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Check Apache OpenOffice versionOpen Apache OpenOffice Calc, then go to Help > About OpenOffice to view the installed version. Alternatively, check via command line with 'soffice --version' or check the program's file properties.Affected if The version displayed is lower than 4.1.16 (for example, 4.1.15, 4.1.14, etc.)
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Identify if DDE links exist in spreadsheetsOpen any Calc spreadsheet files you suspect may contain DDE links. Look for formulas that reference external sources using the DDE syntax (typically appearing as =DDE or referencing external file paths within cells).Affected if You have spreadsheets with active DDE links to external files and are running an affected version below 4.1.16.
You are affected if you have Apache OpenOffice Calc installed with a version lower than 4.1.16 and you open Calc spreadsheets containing DDE links to external sources.
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.
dbcve · scoped4.1.16
Upgrade Apache OpenOffice to version 4.1.16 or later, which implements proper user prompting before loading DDE-linked external content.
4.1.16
- Download Apache OpenOffice version 4.1.16 from the official Apache OpenOffice website (www.openoffice.org)
- Uninstall the current version of Apache OpenOffice if present
- Install Apache OpenOffice 4.1.16 using the downloaded installer
- Launch the application and verify the installed version is 4.1.16
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-64405 — 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-2025-64405 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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