CVE-2024-23525VulnerabilityPublished 17 Jan 2024Updated 2 Jun 2025

CVE-2024-23525: n/a

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium · fixed in 0.30 : update affected systems when convenient.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 55% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 0.30

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 17 Jan 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
n/a n/a	Affected <0.30	Fixed in 0.30

AI-suggested

European organizations should audit their Perl-based applications and scripts to identify usage of the Spreadsheet::ParseXLSX module, especially versions prior to 0.30. Immediate mitigation involves upgrading to version 0.30 or later where the 'no_xxe' option is properly enabled to prevent XXE attacks. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, organizations should implement input validation and sandboxing measures to restrict the processing of untrusted XLSX files. Additionally, deploying file scanning solutions to detect and block malicious XLSX files can reduce risk. User awareness training to recognize phishing attempts involving spreadsheet attachments is also critical. For developers maintaining custom Perl scripts, explicitly setting the 'no_xxe' option in XML::Twig when parsing XLSX files is a direct and effective mitigation. Monitoring logs for unusual file processing activities and network requests triggered by XML parsing can help detect exploitation attempts.

Description

The Spreadsheet::ParseXLSX package before 0.30 for Perl allows XXE attacks because it neglects to use the no_xxe option of XML::Twig.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability depends largely on the extent to which they use Perl applications or scripts that rely on the Spreadsheet::ParseXLSX module to process XLSX files, especially those obtained from untrusted sources. If exploited, attackers could leverage crafted XLSX files to read sensitive files or internal network resources accessible to the parsing environment, potentially leading to data leaks. This is particularly concerning for sectors handling sensitive or regulated data, such as finance, healthcare, and government agencies. Since the vulnerability requires user interaction (opening or processing the malicious file), phishing or social engineering campaigns could be used as attack vectors. The confidentiality breach could lead to regulatory compliance issues under GDPR if personal or sensitive data is exposed. However, the lack of impact on integrity and availability limits the scope of damage to data exposure rather than system disruption or data manipulation.

CWE-611Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A02:2025: Security Misconfiguration (opens in a new tab)
The product processes an XML document that can contain XML entities with URIs that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output.
Implementation · System Configuration
Many XML parsers and validators can be configured to disable external entity expansion.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
XML External Entity Prevention (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.5.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Data Serialization External Entities Blowup (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Jul 2025, 15:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-611

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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