CVE-2005-3402 in Thunderbird
Summary
by MITRE
The SMTP client in Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.5 BETA, 1.0.7, and possibly other versions, does not notify users when it cannot establish a secure channel with the server, which allows remote attackers to obtain authentication information without detection via a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack that bypasses TLS authentication or downgrades CRAM-MD5 authentication to plain authentication.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/12/2018
The vulnerability described in CVE-2005-3402 represents a critical security flaw in the email client Thunderbird's Simple Mail Transfer Protocol implementation. This issue affects versions 1.0.5 BETA through 1.0.7 and demonstrates a fundamental failure in secure communication channel establishment. The flaw specifically targets the client's inability to properly alert users when secure connections cannot be established, creating a dangerous scenario where authentication credentials may be transmitted in plain text without user awareness.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the SMTP client's handling of secure channel negotiation and authentication mechanisms. When Thunderbird attempts to establish a secure connection with an email server, it fails to properly validate or notify users about failed TLS negotiations. This allows attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by intercepting communications and either preventing TLS establishment or forcing the client to downgrade to less secure authentication methods. The vulnerability particularly impacts CRAM-MD5 authentication, which can be downgraded to plain text authentication without user knowledge or consent.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for users who rely on Thunderbird for email communication, especially in environments where network security cannot be guaranteed. Attackers can exploit this flaw to capture authentication credentials, potentially gaining unauthorized access to email accounts and compromising sensitive information. The lack of user notification means that legitimate users remain unaware that their communications are being intercepted or that their authentication information is being transmitted insecurely, making this attack particularly insidious and difficult to detect.
The impact of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-310, which addresses cryptographic weaknesses in authentication and session management systems. This weakness specifically relates to inadequate validation of secure communication channels and failure to implement proper security notifications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving credential access through network sniffing and man-in-the-middle attacks, particularly T1110.003 for credential access via network sniffing and T1566 for social engineering through network interception. Organizations using affected versions of Thunderbird should immediately implement mitigation strategies including updating to patched versions, implementing additional network security controls, and educating users about the importance of verifying secure connection indicators. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of proper secure channel establishment and user notification in cryptographic implementations, particularly in email client software where authentication credentials are routinely transmitted over potentially insecure networks.