Macro virus for Staroffice discovered (Techworld) [LWN.net]

Macro virus for Staroffice discovered (Techworld)

Posted Jun 1, 2006 0:35 UTC (Thu) by jhardin (guest, #3297)
In reply to: Macro virus for Staroffice discovered (Techworld) by Ross
Parent article: Macro virus for Staroffice discovered (Techworld)

> ... a fundamental weakness in the file format where, like with MS Office files, macros are allowed to ...

What does the file format have to do with what macros are or are not allowed to do? The file format only stores the data; it's the *application* that supports a macro language, and allows it to run amok.

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Macro virus for Staroffice discovered (Techworld)

Posted Jun 1, 2006 1:02 UTC (Thu) by Ross (subscriber, #4065) [Link]

If the format dictates when the macro is executed and what it can do, it affects the security. That's my point. Otherwise it's an application bug/feature.

Macro virus for Staroffice discovered (Techworld)

Posted Jun 1, 2006 4:01 UTC (Thu) by dwheeler (subscriber, #1216) [Link]

ODF has some program-like capabilities defined (e.g., for graphs), but they are all strictly limited. The way the ODF spec is designed, I doubt there is a requirement that makes it impossible to be secure.