CVE-2023-7101 | Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE) Vulnerability

Exp

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.

Published: 2023-12-24 Last update: 2025-10-24 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-7101 is rated Critical Active Threat (86.3/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 55.71%, 98th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2024-01-02) affecting Spreadsheet::ParseExcel / Spreadsheet::ParseExcel. a weakness (CWE-94) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

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

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2023-7101

Name: Spreadsheet::ParseExcel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2024-01-02

Action due: 2024-01-23

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-7101

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 2026-05-22 59.99% 55.71% -4.28%
2 2026-05-20 83.31% 59.99% -23.32%
3 2026-01-11 — 83.31% —

Full EPSS history (44 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-7101

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-7101

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-7101

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2023-7101: 1 source package rows (perl-spreadsheet-parseexcel); 6 state rows across 6 repos (3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, 3.23-community, edge-community); fixed 6, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-7101
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-7101 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libspreadsheet-parseexcel-perl), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-7101
gentoo normal CVE-2023-7101: 1 GLSA(s) (202508-05), 1 atom(s) (dev-perl/Spreadsheet-ParseExcel); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2023-7101
suse high CVE-2023-7101 severity important: SUSE including 3 source package names (perl-Spreadsheet-ParseExcel-0.65-150000.3.3.1, perl-Spreadsheet-ParseExcel-0.660.0-1.1, perl-Spreadsheet-ParseExcel-0.660.0-160000.2.2), 27 product×package rows across 27 product lines (SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1, … (27 product lines)): Fixed 27. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-7101/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-7101 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libspreadsheet-parseexcel-perl), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 6, ignored 2, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-7101

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-7101

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
jmcnamara spreadsheet::parseexcel <= 0.65 cpe:2.3:a:jmcnamara:spreadsheet\:\:parseexcel:*:*:*:*:*:perl:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 38 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:38:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 39 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:39:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-7101

URL Tags
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/12/29/4 Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/jmcnamara/spreadsheet-parseexcel/blob/c7298592e102a375d43150cd002feed806557c15/lib/Spreadsheet/ParseExcel/Utility.pm#L171 Product
https://github.com/mandiant/Vulnerability-Disclosures/blob/master/2023/MNDT-2023-0019.md Third Party Advisory
https://https://github.com/haile01/perl_spreadsheet_excel_rce_poc Broken Link Third Party Advisory
https://https://github.com/jmcnamara/spreadsheet-parseexcel/commit/bd3159277e745468e2c553417b35d5d7dc7405bc Broken Link Patch
https://https://metacpan.org/dist/Spreadsheet-ParseExcel Broken Link Product
https://https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-7101 Broken Link Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/12/msg00025.html Mailing List
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/IFEHKULQRVXHIV7XXK2RGD4VQN6Y4CV5/ Broken Link Mailing List
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/M2FIWDHRYTAAQLGM6AFOZVM7AFZ4H2ZR/ Broken Link Mailing List
https://security.metacpan.org/2024/02/10/vulnerable-spreadsheet-parsing-modules.html Third Party Advisory
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-7101 US Government Resource
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