CVE-2021-40439 | Billion Laughs

Apache OpenOffice has a dependency on expat software. Versions prior to 2.1.0 were subject to CVE-2013-0340 a "Billion Laughs" entity expansion denial of service attack and exploit via crafted XML files. ODF files consist of a set of XML files. All versions of Apache OpenOffice up to 4.1.10 are subject to this issue. expat in version 4.1.11 is patched.

Published: 2021-10-07 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-40439 is rated Moderate Risk (44.3/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.29%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-40439

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-07 0.40% 0.29% -0.11%
2 2026-01-20 0.53% 0.40% -0.13%
3 2025-12-30 — 0.53% —

Full EPSS history (23 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-40439

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 3.6 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-40439

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-40439

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache openoffice <= 4.1.10 cpe:2.3:a:apache:openoffice:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-40439

cvelogic Threat Intelligence