Sun Developer on the Security of OpenOffice
In a recent blog, Sun developer Malte Timmermann took a position on the security concerns of the Ecole Superieure d'Informatique, Electronique, Automatique (ESIEA) in Paris-Laval, France. The subject was the vulnerability of OpenOffice, involving document macros, for example.
In the context of the Black Hat Europe 2009 Briefings conference in Amsterdam mid-April, Eric Filiol and Jean-Paul Fizaine of the cryptology lab at the French engineering academy, ESIEA, presented a paper of around 70 pages describing security holes in OpenOffice 3.x. The concern was the newest OpenOffice release of October 2008 and the steady increase in malware for office applications. Their reasoning was that the growing availability of free software invited a larger role for macro viruses. The threat scenario for their research came from a Python virus.
Sun Microsystems contributor and OpenOffice developer Malte Timmermann has now systematically challenged the results of the two academic colleagues in a long blog entry spread out over six chapters, much as the original research paper. Chapter 2, for example, covers the security features of the ODF document format. The two Frenchmen mention in their paper that ODF uses zip containers. Timmermann's response: "There are many hints on how to prove that ODF files are using zip containers - nobody ever said it would be different." The implication of possible wrongdoing especially bothered him: "In the context of this paper it sounds like this would become a tool for doing evil things - manipulating ODF documents. Actually, the whole purpose of an open standard is that different kinds of tools can make use of it."
Timmermann also addressed the issue of the danger of macros. "Sure," he wrote, "the intention of macros is that macro authors can do powerful things. Good things as well as evil things. And it doesn't matter which tool I use to create them." He concurs that care is needed: "People never should run macros if they are not sure that they can trust them."
The OpenOffice developer hardly agreed with many more of the ESIEA colleague's findings. Instead he rebutted many of their arguments and referred to the benefits of the ODF format as well as improvements already made to OpenOffice. Some of the faults found in the ESEIA paper Timmermann had already addressed a few years earlier in a blog of August 2006, such as the possible manipulation of menu entries and malware in signatures.
All in all, the Sun contributor felt that OpenOffice's security mechanisms were better than the ESIEA paper claimed. He wrote: "...with OOo 3.2 there should be some more improvements..." He continues: "The idea in the paper about a special OOo version ('Trusted OOo') is interesting, but would mean to create an isle. That special version would warn every time you load a document which was created/modified with vanilla OOo or any other ODF application." The suggestion that certain parts of the OpenOffice code should be closed for security reasons elicited the response, "Beside the fact that it's not an option, would proprietary software make attacks only more difficult [security by obscurity], but not impossible."
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs