CVE-2026-45785

OpenMcdf: Uncatchable infinite loop in DirectoryTree.TryGetDirectoryEntry on crafted CFB directory cycle

Summary

The BST name-lookup loop in DirectoryTree.TryGetDirectoryEntry (OpenMcdf/DirectoryTree.cs:35-46) walks directory entries by repeatedly calling directories.TryGetSibling(child, siblingType, validateColor). A crafted CFB file with cyclic Left/Right sibling links among directory entries - constructed so the per-step BST-order check in TryGetSibling (DirectoryEntries.cs:84-85) is satisfied at every step - drives this while (child is not null) loop forever. There is no cycle detection in TryGetDirectoryEntry.

Details

The recent Brent's-algorithm commit (24f445a) protects DirectoryTreeEnumerator and works correctly for both attached repros - pure EnumerateEntries() throws FileFormatException: Directory tree contains a loop cleanly. The unprotected code path is the lookup-by-name loop, which is reached from multiple public APIs:

• RootStorage.OpenStorage(name) / TryOpenStorage(name)
• RootStorage.OpenStream(name) / TryOpenStream(name)

The second one matters most: typical consumers iterate EnumerateEntries() and call OpenStream(entry.Name) per Stream entry. With Brent's algorithm catching the enumeration cycle but not the per-entry lookup, callers can still hang as soon as they touch a streamed entry.

PoC

Two minimal repros attached, demonstrating the same lookup-loop bug reached via two different public APIs:

• repro_lookup.cfb (5,632 bytes) - hangs on direct OpenStorage(name) for a name not present in the directory
• repro_enumerate.cfb (7,936 bytes) - hangs on OpenStream(entry.Name) called for an entry returned by EnumerateEntries() (the common consumer pattern)

Repro 1 - OpenStorage(name)

using OpenMcdf;
using var fs = File.OpenRead("repro_lookup.cfb");
using var root = RootStorage.Open(fs);
root.TryOpenStorage("__substg1.0_3001001F", out _);
// process spins at 100% CPU; Ctrl+C required.

Repro 2 - OpenStream from inside an enumeration loop

using OpenMcdf;
using var fs = File.OpenRead("repro_enumerate.cfb");
using var root = RootStorage.Open(fs);
foreach (var entry in root.EnumerateEntries())   // safe: Brent's catches enumeration cycles
{
    if (entry.Type == EntryType.Stream)
        _ = root.OpenStream(entry.Name);          // hangs: lookup path has no cycle detection
}

Both processes will not terminate.

(Note: pure foreach (var entry in root.EnumerateEntries()) { } with no per-entry lookup is safe - Brent's algorithm in DirectoryTreeEnumerator catches the enumeration cycle and throws FileFormatException: Directory tree contains a loop. The hang only manifests once a name lookup is performed.)

repros.zip

Impact

A denial of service affecting any application that opens untrusted CFB files with OpenMcdf. A small crafted input with a cyclic directory tree reaches the unprotected BST name-lookup in DirectoryTree.TryGetDirectoryEntry, hit by any caller of OpenStorage / TryOpenStorage / OpenStream / TryOpenStream - including the very common pattern of iterating EnumerateEntries() and calling OpenStream(entry.Name) per Stream entry. The cycles bypass the per-step BST-order check in TryGetSibling, so no exception is thrown and try/catch cannot protect callers. The affected thread is unrecoverable without killing the process. Downstream CFB consumers (e.g. .msg-file parsers) inherit transitively.