CVE-2011-2893 in Lotus Symphony
Summary
by MITRE
The DataPilot feature in IBM Lotus Symphony 3 before FP3 allows user-assisted remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a large .xls spreadsheet with an invalid Value reference.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/15/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-2893 affects IBM Lotus Symphony 3 before FP3 and specifically targets the DataPilot feature within the spreadsheet application. This represents a denial of service weakness that can be exploited by remote attackers who have the ability to convince a user to open a maliciously crafted spreadsheet file. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation within the DataPilot functionality, which processes spreadsheet data to create pivot tables and analytical views. When the application encounters a large .xls spreadsheet containing an invalid Value reference, the parsing mechanism fails to properly handle the malformed data structure, resulting in an application crash that terminates the user's session and disrupts normal operations. The attack vector requires user interaction since the victim must open the malicious file, making this a user-assisted remote attack rather than a fully automated exploit. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 category of Stack-based Buffer Overflow, though the specific manifestation in this case involves improper handling of spreadsheet references rather than traditional buffer overflows. The impact extends beyond simple application instability as it can disrupt business operations where Lotus Symphony is used for critical data analysis tasks, potentially causing delays in decision-making processes and requiring system administrators to restore services from backups. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where multiple users may be accessing shared documents and where the DataPilot feature is frequently utilized for complex data analysis and reporting purposes. The lack of proper bounds checking and input sanitization in the spreadsheet parsing code creates an opportunity for attackers to craft malicious files that exploit the parsing logic, leading to unexpected application termination. From an operational perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 which involves network disruption through service availability attacks. Organizations using Lotus Symphony in their workflow may experience significant downtime during incident response activities as system administrators work to identify and isolate affected systems while users attempt to recover their work. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of input validation in spreadsheet processing applications, particularly when dealing with legacy formats that may contain unexpected data structures or malformed references. Security practitioners should consider implementing network segmentation to limit exposure and ensure that users have appropriate training to recognize potentially malicious spreadsheet files. The fix for this vulnerability required IBM to implement enhanced input validation within the DataPilot feature, specifically addressing how the application handles invalid Value references in .xls files. This type of vulnerability highlights the need for robust error handling in complex spreadsheet applications where multiple data parsing operations occur simultaneously. The remediation approach involved strengthening the parsing logic to gracefully handle malformed data rather than allowing the application to crash when encountering unexpected reference structures. Organizations should prioritize updating to IBM Lotus Symphony FP3 or later versions to address this vulnerability and maintain operational continuity in their spreadsheet processing environments. The vulnerability also underscores the broader challenge of maintaining security in legacy productivity applications where patching cycles may be extended and security updates may not be immediately available to all users within an organization.