CVE-2002-1765 in Evolution
Summary
by MITRE
Evolution 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and crash) via an email with a malformed MIME header.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/10/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-1765 affects Evolution email client versions 1.0.3 and 1.0.4, representing a critical denial of service weakness that can be exploited remotely through crafted email messages. This issue stems from insufficient input validation within the MIME header processing mechanism of the email client. The flaw specifically manifests when the application encounters malformed MIME headers in incoming email messages, causing the software to consume excessive memory resources and eventually crash. The vulnerability operates at the application layer of the network stack, making it particularly dangerous as it can be triggered without requiring authentication or direct system access.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the Evolution client's failure to properly sanitize or validate MIME header structures during email parsing operations. When processing an email message containing malformed MIME headers, the application's parsing routine enters an infinite loop or allocates excessive memory blocks without proper bounds checking. This behavior aligns with CWE-129, which describes improper validation of array indices, and CWE-772, which covers missing release of memory resources. The memory consumption pattern suggests a classic resource exhaustion attack vector where the application's memory management routines fail to handle malformed input gracefully, leading to uncontrolled memory growth until system resources are depleted.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations relying on Evolution as their primary email client. Attackers can craft simple email messages with malformed MIME headers that, when processed by the vulnerable client, will cause the application to crash and potentially consume all available system memory. This denial of service condition affects not only individual users but can also impact broader network operations if multiple users within an organization are simultaneously targeted. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that simply receiving an email message can trigger the attack, making it particularly dangerous in environments where users may not be cautious about email sources. The attack vector operates at the application layer, corresponding to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which involves network denial of service attacks through resource exhaustion.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate patching of affected Evolution versions, as well as implementing email filtering mechanisms that can detect and quarantine potentially malicious MIME headers. Organizations should consider deploying email security appliances or gateways that can scan incoming messages for malformed MIME structures before they reach end-user clients. Network administrators should also implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual memory consumption patterns in email client processes, which could indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, users should be educated about the risks of opening emails from untrusted sources, though this protection is limited given the remote nature of the attack. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the importance of proper input validation and resource management in client applications, particularly those handling untrusted data from external sources.