Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessCraft workbook with malformed SheetObjectComponent
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DeliveryDeliver file to victim
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ExploitVictim opens workbook in Gnumeric
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ExecutionXML parser dereferences freed component
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ImpactApplication crashes (denial of service)
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Memory lifecycle management
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires the victim to open an attacker-supplied Gnumeric workbook file that contains a malformed SheetObjectComponent XML element; the flaw is triggered during XML parsing of that element by Gnumeric. Limiting factors: attack is local (AV:L) and requires user interaction (UI:R) - the victim must actively open the crafted file; there is no remote or unauthenticated network vector, and impact is confined to a crash (no confidentiality or integrity loss). This is not exploitable against default configurations without delivering and having the user open a malicious file. |
| Impact | This is a genuinely medium-severity availability-only issue, not a hidden critical. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, base 5.5) is internally consistent with the description: exploitation requires a victim to locally open a crafted Gnumeric workbook (AV:L + UI:R), and the sole impact is a heap use-after-free that crashes the application (A:H, with C:N/I:N). CWE-416 use-after-free can sometimes escalate to code execution, but the description explicitly limits the outcome to 'causing Gnumeric to crash,' so treating this as denial-of-service only is appropriate absent evidence of a controllable write. No EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public proof-of-concept were provided, so exploitation status is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' Net: low real-world urgency - a client-side crash in a niche desktop spreadsheet app that needs user interaction and yields no confidentiality/integrity impact. There is no conflict between the CVSS vector and the description; both point to a local, user-interaction-gated crash. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker crafts a malicious .gnumeric workbook containing a malformed SheetObjectComponent XML element and delivers it to a victim (email attachment, download, shared drive). When the victim opens the file in Gnumeric, the XML parser dereferences a freed sheet-object component, triggering the use-after-free and crashing the application. No public exploit code is known, and the described impact is limited to a crash rather than code execution. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 25, 2026
Opening a crafted Gnumeric workbook can trigger a heap use-after-free (CWE-416) during XML parsing of a malformed SheetObjectComponent element, crashing the application and causing a denial of service. This affects GNOME Gnumeric across versions (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:gnome:gnumeric:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*). The vulnerability requires local access and user interaction (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R), and no public exploit identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Until a fix is available, users should avoid opening untrusted Gnumeric workbook files, as the vulnerability is triggered by opening a crafted file. Additionally, consider running Gnumeric in a sandboxed environment with reduced privileges to limit the impact of a crash. Monitor the GNOME GitLab issue (https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnumeric/-/issues/897) and Red Hat advisory (https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-97222) for updates. There is no known workaround to disable the vulnerable XML parsing feature without losing functionality, so user education and file-source verification are the primary compensating controls. The trade-off is that users cannot safely open workbook files from unverified sources.
Affected VersionsENISA
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Technical ContextAI · show details
Gnumeric is a GNOME spreadsheet application that parses XML-based workbook files. The vulnerability resides in the handling of the SheetObjectComponent element: when a crafted XML document is parsed, a sheet-object component is freed and subsequently dereferenced (CWE-416: Use After Free), leading to memory corruption and a crash. The CPE entry cpe:2.3:a:gnome:gnumeric:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* indicates that all versions of GNOME Gnumeric are potentially affected, as no specific version range is provided. The issue is tracked in GNOME GitLab issue 897, Red Hat Bugzilla 2541397, and Red Hat CVE-2026-97222. Tags associated with this CVE include Denial Of Service, Use After Free, Memory Corruption, Gnumeric, and Gnome.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Local file must be opened by the victim (AV:L, UI:R), no privileges needed (PR:N), and the described outcome is a crash only, so C:N/I:N/A:H.
Primary rating from Vendor (fedora).
CVSS VectorVendor: fedora
DescriptionCVE.org
A heap use-after-free flaw was found in Gnumeric. When a user opens a crafted Gnumeric workbook containing a malformed SheetObjectComponent element, the XML parser can dereference a freed sheet-object component, causing Gnumeric to crash.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Use-after-free vulnerabilities occur when a program continues to access memory through a pointer after that memory has been deallocated.
Memory corruption occurs when a program writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory regions or accesses memory in unintended ways, violating the integrity of the process's address space.
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
Same weakness CWE-416 – Use After Free
View allSame technique Denial Of Service
View allVendor StatusVendor
SUSE
Severity: Moderate| Product | Status |
|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | Fixed |
EUVD-2026-87095
GHSA-gx2p-wmmc-xm83
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB