CVE-2005-0695 in Hosting Controller
Summary
by MITRE
The password recovery feature (forgotpassword.asp) in Hosting Controller 6.1 Hotfix 1.7 and earlier allows remote attackers to determine the owner s e-mail address by providing a portion of the domain name to the "login ID" field.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/21/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2005-0695 resides within the password recovery functionality of Hosting Controller version 6.1 Hotfix 1.7 and earlier systems. This issue manifests through the forgotpassword.asp component which is designed to assist users in retrieving their account credentials when they have forgotten them. The flaw specifically impacts the authentication and account recovery mechanisms that are fundamental to system security and user access management within hosting environments.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and insufficient access controls within the password recovery process. When attackers provide a partial domain name to the login ID field, the system responds in a manner that inadvertently reveals information about account ownership. This behavior represents a classic information disclosure vulnerability where the system's response patterns leak sensitive data about user accounts and their associated email addresses. The flaw essentially allows an attacker to enumerate valid email addresses by testing various domain name portions, creating a reconnaissance mechanism that could be leveraged for subsequent attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it creates opportunities for targeted attacks against specific user accounts. Attackers can systematically test domain names to identify valid hosting accounts and their associated email addresses, which could then be used for social engineering attacks, credential stuffing attempts, or other forms of account compromise. This vulnerability particularly affects hosting providers who manage multiple client accounts, as it enables attackers to map out valid account structures and potentially target specific users for more sophisticated attacks. The exposure of email addresses through this mechanism undermines the security of the entire hosting environment and creates additional attack vectors for threat actors.
From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which addresses information exposure, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege and secure input validation. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as part of the reconnaissance phase, specifically under credential access techniques where adversaries gather information about valid accounts and their associated identifiers. Organizations should implement proper input sanitization, validate all user inputs against expected patterns, and ensure that error responses do not reveal sensitive information about account existence or ownership. Additionally, rate limiting and account lockout mechanisms should be implemented to prevent automated enumeration attacks. The vulnerability highlights the importance of conducting thorough security assessments of authentication mechanisms and ensuring that recovery features do not introduce unintended information disclosure channels that could be exploited by malicious actors.