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NVD / CVE Program· CNA Document Fdn.

CVE-2020-12801: Crash-recovered MSOffice encrypted documents defaulted to not to using encryption on next save

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 21/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.2% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 70.2% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • Fixed version: libreoffice (Alpine:v3.15) 6.4.3.2-r0; libreoffice (Debian:10) 1:6.1.5-3+deb10u11; libreoffice (Debian:12) 1:6.4.3-1.
  • Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).

Low priority for now. Upgrade to libreoffice (Alpine:v3.15) 6.4.3.2-r0; libreoffice (Debian:10) 1:6.1.5-3+deb10u11; libreoffice (Debian:12) 1:6.4.3-1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

If LibreOffice has an encrypted document open and crashes, that document is auto-saved encrypted. On restart, LibreOffice offers to restore the document and prompts for the password to decrypt it. If the recovery is successful, and if the file format of the recovered document was not LibreOffice's default ODF file format, then affected versions of LibreOffice default that subsequent saves of the document are unencrypted. This may lead to a user accidentally saving a MSOffice file format document unencrypted while believing it to be encrypted. This issue affects: LibreOffice 6-3 series versions prior to 6.3.6; 6-4 series versions prior to 6.4.3.

MediumCVSS 5.3 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
May 18, 2020
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
1.2% · 70th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

21

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
21 / 40 · 5.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.2%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2020-12801

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
libreofficelibreoffice
opensuseleap

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • libreoffice libreoffice6.3.0 and later · before 6.3.6
  • libreoffice libreoffice6.4.0 and later · before 6.4.3
  • opensuse leap15.1

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Document Fdn.). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • The Document Foundation LibreOffice

    • 6-3 series and later · before 6.3.6affected
    • 6-4 series and later · before 6.4.3affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.15libreofficefrom 6.3.0 · before 6.4.3.2-r06.4.3.2-r0
Debian:10libreofficebefore 1:6.1.5-3+deb10u111:6.1.5-3+deb10u11
Debian:12libreofficebefore 1:6.4.3-11:6.4.3-1
openSUSE:Leap 15.1libreofficebefore 6.4.4.2-lp151.3.15.16.4.4.2-lp151.3.15.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP4libreofficebefore 6.4.4.2-43.65.56.4.4.2-43.65.5
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP1libreofficebefore 6.4.4.2-8.19.46.4.4.2-8.19.4

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2019-9851LibreLogo global-event script execution
    62This week
  • CVE-2018-16858It was found that libreoffice before versions 6.0.7 and 6.1.3 was vulnerable to a directory traversal attack which could be used to execute
    60This week
  • CVE-2018-10583An information disclosure vulnerability occurs when LibreOffice 6.0.3 and Apache OpenOffice Writer 4.1.5 automatically process and initiate
    60This week

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2019-9853Sep 27, 2019 · Insufficient URL decoding flaw in categorizing macro location
    32Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2012-5639Dec 20, 2019 · LibreOffice and OpenOffice automatically open embedded content
    28Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2020-12802Jun 8, 2020 · remote graphics contained in docx format retrieved in 'stealth mode'
    22Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:libreoffice6.4.3.2-r0 · Alpine:v3.15Package registry (OSV)
debian:libreoffice1:6.4.3-1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:libreoffice6.4.4.2-lp151.3.15.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.1Package registry (OSV)
suse:libreoffice6.4.4.2-8.19.4 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP1Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)

Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.

All national notices →

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
low · data can be read
Integrity
none
Availability
none
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
Low
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
None

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

nvd-primary

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

All records