OpenOffice.org warns of three vulnerabilities

OpenOffice.org is warning users of security vulnerabilities that can crash the OpenOffice.org productivity software and give malicious hackers access to full system resources.

The vulnerabilities affect users of OpenOffice.org versions 2.0.x and 1.1.x, though no known exploits existed, the company said in an advisory issued last week. The company is urging OpenOffice.org 2.0.x users to upgrade to version 2.0.3, released last week. A patch for OpenOffice.org 1.1.x will be available soon, the company said.

One vulnerability allows a malicious hacker to use certain Java applets to break into a secure execution environment to access system resources. A work-around to this vulnerability is to disable Java applets from current OpenOffice.org versions, the company said.

Another vulnerability injects macro code into documents without notification and gives hackers full access to system resources. In the third vulnerability, malformed XML documents causes buffer overflows and crash OpenOffice.org.

The vulnerabilities also affect users of Sun Microsystems' StarOffice Office Suite versions 6, 7, and 8, according to security vendor Secunia.