CVE-2023-7101: Spreadsheet::ParseExcel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: yes — in CISA KEV since 2024-01-02
EPSS: 19.0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-12-24 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-95

Description

Spreadsheet::ParseExcel version 0.65 is a Perl module used for parsing Excel files. Spreadsheet::ParseExcel is vulnerable to an arbitrary code execution (ACE) vulnerability due to passing unvalidated input from a file into a string-type “eval”. Specifically, the issue stems from the evaluation of Number format strings (not to be confused with printf-style format strings) within the Excel parsing logic.

Affected products

Debian Linux: 10.0
Fedoraproject Fedora: 38, 39
Jmcnamara Spreadsheet::Parseexcel: through 0.65

References

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/12/29/4
https://github.com/jmcnamara/spreadsheet-parseexcel/blob/c7298592e102a375d43150cd002feed806557c15/lib/Spreadsheet/ParseExcel/Utility.pm#L171
https://github.com/mandiant/Vulnerability-Disclosures/blob/master/2023/MNDT-2023-0019.md
https://https://github.com/haile01/perl_spreadsheet_excel_rce_poc
https://https://github.com/jmcnamara/spreadsheet-parseexcel/commit/bd3159277e745468e2c553417b35d5d7dc7405bc
https://https://metacpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-ParseExcel
https://https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-7101
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/12/msg00025.html
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IFEHKULQRVXHIV7XXK2RGD4VQN6Y4CV5/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/M2FIWDHRYTAAQLGM6AFOZVM7AFZ4H2ZR/
https://security.metacpan.org/2024/02/10/vulnerable-spreadsheet-parsing-modules.html
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/12/29/4

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