CVE-2002-1424 in mpack
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in munpack in mpack 1.5 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/28/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-1424 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw within the munpack utility component of the mpack package version 1.5 and earlier. This buffer overflow occurs when the munpack utility processes malformed or specially crafted input data, specifically within the handling of email attachments or encoded content. The flaw exists in the memory management routines where insufficient bounds checking allows an attacker to write data beyond the allocated buffer space, potentially corrupting adjacent memory regions and leading to unpredictable system behavior.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation within the munpack utility's parsing functions. When processing encoded email attachments or multipart messages, the utility fails to adequately verify the length of incoming data before copying it into fixed-size buffers. This classic buffer overflow condition creates an opportunity for attackers to manipulate memory layout and execution flow, particularly when the utility handles large or malformed input sequences. The vulnerability manifests during the decompression or extraction of encoded content, where the buffer overflow can occur in various stages of the data processing pipeline.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to systems that rely on mpack for email attachment handling or automated content processing. Remote attackers can exploit this weakness to trigger denial of service conditions by causing the utility to crash or become unresponsive, effectively disrupting legitimate email processing services. More critically, the buffer overflow could potentially be leveraged to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the munpack utility, which might be a system service account or root user in certain configurations. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in server environments where automated email processing is common.
The impact of CVE-2002-1424 aligns with CWE-121, which categorizes buffer overflow conditions as a fundamental memory safety issue, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for remote code execution through vulnerable software components. Organizations running affected versions of mpack should immediately implement mitigation strategies including upgrading to patched versions of the mpack package, implementing input validation controls, and applying network segmentation to limit exposure of vulnerable systems. Additionally, administrators should consider disabling unnecessary email attachment processing capabilities and implementing proper monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input validation and memory safety practices in preventing remote code execution exploits that can compromise entire systems through seemingly benign utility functions.