CVE-2026-59268 in OpenOffice
Summary
by MITRE • 11/04/2026
An out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in Apache OpenOffice versions through 4.1.16 could allow an attacker to craft a Microsoft Word document that would crash the program, or otherwise corrupt other memory areas.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.1.17, which fixes this issue.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/04/2026
The vulnerability identified in Apache OpenOffice versions through 4.1.16 represents a critical out-of-bounds write condition within the application's document parsing engine. This flaw specifically affects the handling of Microsoft Word documents, indicating that the defect lies in how the software processes legacy or specific formatting structures common to .doc files rather than modern Office formats like .docx. When an attacker crafts a maliciously constructed Word document containing specially formatted elements, they can trigger this memory corruption issue during the rendering or parsing phase. The root cause is typically associated with insufficient boundary checks when allocating or writing data to buffers based on user-supplied input from the file structure. This lack of validation allows the application to write data beyond the allocated limits of a buffer in memory, leading to unpredictable behavior and potential system compromise.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks ranging from denial of service to arbitrary code execution. The immediate consequence described is the crashing of the Apache OpenOffice program, which constitutes a denial-of-service attack against users who open the malicious file. However, out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities are notoriously dangerous because they can corrupt adjacent memory areas. An attacker with sufficient knowledge of the target system's memory layout could potentially leverage this corruption to overwrite function pointers or return addresses on the stack or heap. This technique is a classic precursor to arbitrary code execution, allowing the attacker to gain control over the victim's machine and execute malicious payloads under the context of the user running OpenOffice. The severity is further amplified by the fact that document viewing often occurs in contexts where users may have limited security awareness regarding file sources.
This vulnerability aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) category CWE-787, which defines out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities. It also relates to CWE-120, buffer overflow without description of the type, as it involves writing data beyond a fixed-size buffer's boundaries. In terms of offensive security frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK, this flaw facilitates initial access and potentially privilege escalation depending on the execution context. The attack vector is classified as remote via network interaction when an attacker distributes the crafted document through email or web hosting services. Defense in depth strategies are essential here since client-side applications like office suites are frequent targets for such exploits due to their complexity and broad feature sets that increase the attack surface.
Mitigation requires immediate action by upgrading Apache OpenOffice to version 4.1.17, which contains patches addressing these memory management errors. Organizations should enforce strict software update policies to ensure all endpoints running this application are current with security fixes. Additionally, implementing application whitelisting or sandboxing for office applications can limit the impact of successful exploits by restricting their ability to interact with critical system resources. Users should also be educated on social engineering tactics used to distribute malicious documents and advised to verify file sources before opening them. Enabling macro protection features within OpenOffice further reduces risk, as many exploit chains rely on enabling macros to achieve full code execution after the initial memory corruption triggers a crash or instability that can be manipulated by subsequent payload delivery mechanisms.