CVE-2002-2082 in FTGate
Summary
by MITRE
FTGate and FTGate Pro 1.05 lock user mailboxes before authentication succeeds, which allows remote attackers to lock the mailboxes of other users.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/30/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-2082 affects FTGate and FTGate Pro email security appliances version 1.05, presenting a significant security flaw in the authentication process that enables remote attackers to lock user mailboxes. This issue stems from a design weakness where the system locks mailboxes before proper authentication is completed, creating an opportunity for malicious actors to exploit this behavior for unauthorized access control manipulation.
The technical flaw resides in the improper handling of mailbox locking mechanisms during the authentication workflow. When users attempt to access their mailboxes, the system prematurely locks the account before verifying the authentication credentials, allowing an attacker to trigger this locking behavior remotely without having valid credentials. This design oversight creates a race condition where the mailbox locking occurs before the authentication process is fully validated, effectively enabling a form of account lockout attack against legitimate users.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability allows remote attackers to perform account lockout attacks against other users, potentially leading to denial of service conditions where legitimate users cannot access their email accounts. The attack vector requires no prior authentication credentials, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited from any network location. This vulnerability undermines the fundamental security principle of access control and could be leveraged to disrupt business communications and potentially escalate to more sophisticated attacks targeting user credentials or system resources.
The vulnerability maps to CWE-284 Access Control Issues, specifically addressing improper access control mechanisms where the system fails to properly validate authentication before implementing access restrictions. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability relates to T1110 Credential Access techniques, particularly T1110.001 Brute Force and T1110.003 Password Spraying, as attackers could systematically lock out accounts to either identify valid credentials or simply disrupt service availability. The vulnerability also connects to T1489 Service Stop, as the mailbox lockout effectively creates a denial of service condition for targeted users.
Mitigation strategies should focus on updating to patched versions of FTGate and FTGate Pro software that properly implement authentication before mailbox locking operations. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit exposure of the email appliances to untrusted networks. Monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns of mailbox lockout events that could indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, implementing account lockout policies with appropriate thresholds and automated alerting mechanisms can help detect and respond to potential abuse of this vulnerability. Organizations should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication and regular security assessments to identify similar access control flaws in their email infrastructure.