CVE-2023-7101
Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE) Vulnerability
Spreadsheet::ParseExcel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability is confirmed as actively exploited and is listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Required action
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CISA notes
This vulnerability affects a common open-source component, third-party library, or a protocol used by different products. Please check with specific vendors for information on patching status. For more information, please see: https://metacpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-ParseExcel and Barracuda's specific implementation and fix for their downstream issue CVE-2023-7102 at https://www.barracuda.com/company/legal/esg-vulnerability; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-7101
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.
Severity
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation Context
as of October 15, 2026- CISA added CVE-2023-7101 to the KEV catalog 9 days after its CVE record was published. The median for entries added in 2024 is 21.5 days.
- Its current EPSS score (19.1%) is higher than that of 34% of CISA KEV entries.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|
| Douglas Wilson | Douglas Wilson Spreadsheet::ParseExcel | 0.65 |
References
11 Links- https://github.com/mandiant/Vulnerability-Disclosures/blob/master/2023/MNDT-2023-0019.md
- https://https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-7101
- https://https://metacpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-ParseExcel
- https://https://github.com/haile01/perl_spreadsheet_excel_rce_poc
- https://github.com/jmcnamara/spreadsheet-parseexcel/blob/c7298592e102a375d43150cd002feed806557c15/lib/Spreadsheet/ParseExcel/Utility.pm#L171
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/12/29/4
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/12/msg00025.html
- https://https://github.com/jmcnamara/spreadsheet-parseexcel/commit/bd3159277e745468e2c553417b35d5d7dc7405bc
- 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
Record Details
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Tool categories
CVE record data © The MITRE Corporation, used under the CVE Terms of Use. Exploited-in-the-wild data from the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (CC0). Exploit prediction scores by FIRST EPSS (first.org/epss). This site is not endorsed or certified by MITRE, NVD, CISA, or FIRST.