Fix CSV formula injection in Python and Django
==============================================

User text in a CSV is attacker-controlled. If a cell starts with = + - @, a
tab, CR, LF or NUL, prefix it with an apostrophe so a spreadsheet treats it as
text, then write it with csv.writer, which escapes commas, quotes and
newlines. Quoting every field (QUOTE_ALL) is valid CSV but does not stop a
formula.

Page: https://softwaresecurity.com/fix/csv-formula-injection/python-django/

What is in this archive
-----------------------
csv-formula-injection/python-django/   the project: three implementations of the same code and one test suite
  contacts/impl/vulnerable.py   (vulnerable)
  contacts/impl/fixed.py   (fixed)
  contacts/impl/wrong.py   (a plausible fix that still fails)
run-all.mjs   runs the tests in all three modes and checks the results (Node.js only)
LICENSE-CODE.txt

Run it
------
  Tested with CPython 3.14.8. run-all.mjs needs Node.js 22 or later. Supported
  versions: https://softwaresecurity.com/fix/versions/

  From the csv-formula-injection/python-django folder, install the dependencies
  once (this needs network access):

    python3 -m venv .venv
    .venv/bin/python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

  Then run the tests. IMPL chooses the implementation the tests load:

    # every test passes
    IMPL=fixed .venv/bin/python -m pytest
    # an exploit test fails
    IMPL=vulnerable .venv/bin/python -m pytest
    # a test fails
    IMPL=wrong .venv/bin/python -m pytest

  The JUnit report is written to reports/junit.xml. To run all three modes and
  check the results in one step, run the harness from this top folder (it needs
  only Node.js; --install runs the install step first):

    node run-all.mjs --install csv-formula-injection/python-django
    node run-all.mjs csv-formula-injection/python-django

Verified
--------
  11 October 2026 on macOS 27.0 (Darwin 27.0.0, arm64), with python 3.14.8, pip
  26.2.1, django 6.1.2, pytest 9.1.1, pytest-django 4.14.0. Versions and results
  hold for that date: run the tests with your own versions before relying on the
  fix.

Licence
-------
  The code is MIT licensed (LICENSE-CODE.txt). The page text is CC BY 4.0.
