Medium · published October 15, 2026
EspoCRM is an open source customer relationship management application. Prior to 9.3.9, application/Espo/Tools/Export/Format/Csv/Processor.php, application/Espo/Tools/Export/Format/Xlsx/OpenSpoutProcessor.php, and application/Espo/Tools/Export/Format/Xlsx/PhpSpreadsheetProcessor.php inspect only the first byte in sanitizeCellValue(). An authenticated low-privileged user can store a free-text value whose formula trigger is preceded by whitespace or a control character, causing CSV or XLSX export to omit the leading single-quote formula-neutralization prefix. When a privileged user opens the exported file and accepts applicable spreadsheet security prompts, spreadsheet software can ignore the whitespace or control-character prefix and evaluate the cell as a formula, permitting outbound data disclosure and, on legacy configurations with DDE enabled, command execution. This issue is fixed in version 9.3.9.