Dropbox opening my docs?

#1

Post by johns » Thu, Sep 12, 2013, 4:10 PM UTC

Dropbox opening my docs?
wncinfosec.com

Re: Dropbox opening my docs?

#2

Post by Guillaume86 » Thu, Sep 12, 2013, 4:26 PM UTC

Isn't that a thumbnail generation from dropbox? I remember a thumbnail entry in their API.

Re: Dropbox opening my docs?

#3

Post by yesbabyyes » Thu, Sep 12, 2013, 4:28 PM UTC

LibreOffice has a pretty powerful document conversion, which you can run headless. I'm guessing they are converting to HTML and perhaps other formats -- do they offer anything like that?

Edit: You can invoke it something like this:

    soffice --headless --convert_to html file.doc

I'm just speculating, but it seems reasonable that it would open the document just like the regular LibreOffice, fetch external resources and so on.

Re: Dropbox opening my docs?

#4

Post by steven777400 » Thu, Sep 12, 2013, 4:28 PM UTC

On the one hand, it seems unlikely that an automated process would trigger external resource retrieval. In the same way, most processes that scan webpages for content or similarities don't run JavaScript, unless they are very sophisticated (this used to be a good way to protect against spam bots, for instance).

On the other hand, given how many files are uploaded to dropbox every hour, it's inconceivable that a human, whether through deliberate management direction or mischief, is opening all these documents. I would more concerned about human intervention if occasionally, a document triggered a buzz some days after it had been uploaded.

If all documents are showing as opened within 10 minutes, then surely it is just an anti-duplication automated agent at work.

Re: Dropbox opening my docs?

#5

Post by amvp » Thu, Sep 12, 2013, 4:29 PM UTC

LibreOffice is commonly used as part of a system to convert and generate previews for MS Office files. I would assume it has something to do with thumbnail generation or preview generation. However I don't seem to see thumbnails or previews of .Doc files (I do for images - for example) on the dropbox webapp - so maybe it's something their testing?

Re: Dropbox opening my docs?

#6

Post by dotmanish » Thu, Sep 12, 2013, 4:29 PM UTC

Could be this (thumbnails): https://www.dropbox.com/developers/core/docs#thumbnails

Re: Dropbox opening my docs?

#7

Post by phaer » Thu, Sep 12, 2013, 4:30 PM UTC

LibreOffice is not necessarily a sign of a human involment in the process, as it comes with a commandline interface to convert documents between various formats. So it could be thumbnail generation as Guillaume86 suggested.

Re: Dropbox opening my docs?

#8

Post by hoopism » Thu, Sep 12, 2013, 4:30 PM UTC

Guillaume86 wrote: post #2

Isn't that a thumbnail generation from dropbox? I remember a thumbnail entry in their API.

That would make sense to me. Especially since he only sees it on .doc files. Probably a thumbnail generator utility that uses LibreOffice plugin. Very interested to find out...

There's a saying that likely applies here:

"When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras"

Re: Dropbox opening my docs?

#9

Post by eli » Thu, Sep 12, 2013, 4:31 PM UTC

Did you bother asking Dropbox what's going on?

This kinda reads like an ad for HoneyDocs...

Re: Dropbox opening my docs?

#10

Post by milkshakes » Thu, Sep 12, 2013, 4:31 PM UTC

really?

you've already determined that it's running on an ec2 instance, but it's somehow "suspicious" that the user-agent is libreoffice? and you're a "security researcher" but "curious if this is an automated process"? please.

sure, dropbox might owe an explanation (even though you certainly gave them permission to do this in their TOS), and you can call me cynical and jaded, but this seems like pretty shameless FUD that appears to be tied to an effort to shill a new product.

EDIT: first i thought this was written by the HoneyDocs founder. now i'm actually unsure who the author is.