CVE-2004-2495 in Ability Mail Server
Summary
by MITRE
The (1) Webmail, (2) admin, and (3) SMTP services in Ability Mail Server 1.18 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a large number of simultaneous connections to the service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/19/2017
The CVE-2004-2495 vulnerability affects the Ability Mail Server version 1.18 and represents a classic denial of service flaw impacting multiple core services including Webmail, administrative interfaces, and SMTP functionality. This vulnerability stems from inadequate connection handling mechanisms within the mail server software, where the system fails to properly manage or limit concurrent connections from remote attackers. The flaw allows malicious actors to exhaust system resources by establishing a large number of simultaneous connections, leading to excessive cpu utilization and ultimately rendering the affected services unavailable to legitimate users. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects fundamental mail server operations that organizations depend upon for communication infrastructure.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability demonstrates poor resource management and connection throttling implementations within the mail server software. The system lacks proper mechanisms to detect and mitigate connection flooding attacks, allowing attackers to consume available cpu cycles and system resources without adequate protection measures. The flaw operates at the network service level where multiple concurrent connections overwhelm the server's ability to process legitimate requests, causing legitimate service degradation or complete service interruption. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-400 which categorizes unchecked resource consumption as a significant security weakness. The attack vector requires minimal technical expertise as it only necessitates establishing multiple connections to the target services, making it particularly dangerous for unpatched systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise business continuity and communication infrastructure. Organizations relying on Ability Mail Server 1.18 may experience complete email service outages across their network, affecting internal communications, customer support, and business operations. The vulnerability affects critical services including webmail access for end users, administrative management interfaces, and smtp email processing capabilities, creating cascading failures throughout the email infrastructure. The resource exhaustion occurs at the cpu level, meaning that even systems with adequate memory may become unresponsive due to the high cpu utilization caused by the connection flood. This vulnerability can be exploited by attackers with basic network connectivity and requires no special privileges or advanced knowledge to execute successfully.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing connection rate limiting and resource management controls within the mail server configuration. System administrators should configure connection limits and implement proper load balancing mechanisms to prevent single points of failure. Network-level protections including firewall rules and connection tracking can help limit the number of simultaneous connections from individual ip addresses. The most effective long-term solution involves upgrading to a patched version of Ability Mail Server that includes proper connection handling and resource management features. Additionally, implementing intrusion detection systems and monitoring for unusual connection patterns can help detect and respond to such attacks before they cause significant disruption. Organizations should also consider implementing redundant systems and failover mechanisms to maintain email service availability during potential attacks. This vulnerability highlights the importance of proper resource management in network services and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499 which covers network denial of service attacks targeting system resources.