CVE-2003-0299 in Balsa
Summary
by MITRE
The IMAP Client, as used in mutt 1.4.1 and Balsa 2.0.10, allows remote malicious IMAP servers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via certain large mailbox size values that cause either integer signedness errors or integer overflow errors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/28/2021
The vulnerability described in CVE-2003-0299 represents a critical security flaw affecting email client applications that implement IMAP protocol handling. This issue specifically impacts mutt version 1.4.1 and balsa version 2.0.10, which are widely used email clients in both personal and enterprise environments. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms within the IMAP client implementations, creating opportunities for remote attackers to exploit malformed mailbox size values that can trigger system instability and potential code execution.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in improper handling of integer data types during IMAP protocol communication. When malicious IMAP servers send oversized mailbox size values, the affected clients fail to properly validate these inputs, leading to either signedness errors or integer overflow conditions. These conditions occur when the client attempts to convert or process the malicious mailbox size values without proper boundary checking, resulting in unexpected behavior within the application's memory management systems. The vulnerability manifests as integer overflow errors that can corrupt memory structures, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate program execution flow through carefully crafted malicious responses from compromised IMAP servers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service conditions to potentially enabling remote code execution on affected systems. When integer overflow occurs during mailbox size processing, the application may allocate insufficient memory or overwrite critical data structures, creating opportunities for attackers to inject and execute malicious code. This represents a significant threat to email security since IMAP servers are often external entities that users trust for communication purposes, making the attack vector particularly effective. The vulnerability affects both client-side applications and their underlying communication protocols, potentially compromising user email accounts and system integrity.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate software updates and input validation improvements. System administrators should prioritize upgrading to patched versions of mutt and balsa that address the integer overflow and signedness error conditions. Additionally, implementing network-level filtering to monitor and restrict unusual mailbox size values from external IMAP servers can provide additional protection. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-190, which catalogs integer overflow conditions, and represents a classic example of how improper input validation can lead to severe security consequences. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation and monitoring solutions to detect unusual IMAP traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, as outlined in ATT&CK technique T1071.004 for application layer protocol usage. Regular security assessments of email client configurations and network traffic analysis can help identify potential exploitation attempts before they result in successful attacks.