CVE-2005-4567 in FTGate
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in FTGate Technology (formerly known as Floosietek) FTGate 4.4 (Build 4.4.000 Oct 26 2005) allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML by sending (1) the href parameter to index.fts, or the param1 parameter to (2) /domains/index.fts, (3) /config/licence.fts, or (4) /config/systemacl.fts.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/12/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2005-4567 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw in FTGate Technology's email security appliance version 4.4, specifically affecting builds from October 26 2005. This vulnerability resides in the application's handling of user-supplied input parameters within multiple web interfaces, creating a persistent security risk that allows remote attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of authenticated users. The flaw specifically impacts the application's web-based management interfaces, which are designed to provide administrative control over email filtering and security policies.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding within the FTGate web application's parameter processing mechanisms. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious URLs containing script code within the href parameter of index.fts or the param1 parameter within four distinct endpoints: /domains/index.fts, /config/licence.fts, and /config/systemacl.fts. These parameters are processed without proper sanitization, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary HTML and JavaScript code that executes in the victim's browser when the affected pages are accessed. The vulnerability manifests as a classic reflected XSS attack pattern where user input flows directly into the web response without adequate escaping or encoding.
The operational impact of CVE-2005-4567 is significant, as it enables attackers to potentially compromise the security of email administrators and users who access the FTGate management interfaces. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to steal session cookies, perform unauthorized administrative actions, redirect users to malicious websites, or extract sensitive information from the email security appliance. Given that FTGate is designed to protect email communications, this vulnerability creates a dangerous attack vector where malicious actors could bypass the very security measures the appliance is meant to provide. The vulnerability affects the core administrative functionality of the system, potentially allowing full compromise of the email security infrastructure.
This vulnerability maps directly to CWE-79 which describes Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities in web applications, specifically covering the scenario where untrusted data is directly incorporated into web pages without proper validation or encoding. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this represents a technique that enables initial access and privilege escalation within the email security environment, potentially allowing adversaries to maintain persistent access through the compromised administrative interfaces. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1190 for Exploit Public-Facing Application, as it affects web-facing management interfaces of security appliances. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation, output encoding, and the deployment of web application firewalls to prevent exploitation of these parameters. The vulnerability underscores the importance of secure coding practices in web applications and highlights the critical need for regular security assessments of email security infrastructure components.
The remediation approach for CVE-2005-4567 requires immediate patching of the affected FTGate appliance to the latest available version from FTGate Technology, which would include proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms. Additionally, network segmentation should be implemented to limit direct access to the management interfaces, and multi-factor authentication should be enabled for administrative accounts. Organizations should also consider implementing content security policies and regular security scanning of web applications to identify similar vulnerabilities. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and the necessity of comprehensive security testing for all web-based administrative interfaces in enterprise security infrastructure components.