CVE-2006-1118 in bmail
Summary
by MITRE
SQL injection vulnerability in bmail before Aardvark PR9.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via unspecified vectors involving GBK character sets.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/20/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-1118 represents a critical SQL injection flaw discovered in the bmail application prior to version Aardvark PR9.1. This security weakness specifically exploits the handling of GBK character sets within the application's input processing mechanisms, creating a pathway for remote attackers to execute malicious SQL commands against the underlying database system. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization practices that fail to properly handle multibyte character encodings, particularly those used in Chinese language systems. The issue manifests when the application processes user-supplied data that contains GBK encoded characters without proper escaping or parameterization, allowing attackers to inject malicious SQL syntax into database queries.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of input fields that accept GBK character sequences, where attackers can craft payloads that bypass traditional SQL injection detection mechanisms. The GBK character set encoding creates a unique attack surface because it uses two-byte sequences for characters, and the application's insufficient sanitization routines fail to properly handle these multi-byte inputs. This allows malicious actors to insert SQL commands that are then executed by the database engine, potentially resulting in unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion. The vulnerability's impact is amplified by the fact that GBK encoding is commonly used in East Asian systems, making this attack vector particularly relevant in regions where such character sets are prevalent. This weakness directly maps to CWE-89, which defines SQL injection as the insertion of malicious SQL code into input fields, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1071.004 for application layer protocol manipulation.
The operational consequences of this vulnerability extend beyond simple data compromise, as successful exploitation can lead to complete database takeover and potential lateral movement within network environments. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to extract sensitive information including user credentials, personal data, and business-critical records stored within the affected database. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries do not require physical access to the system, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous in internet-facing applications. Organizations using affected versions of bmail face significant risks including regulatory compliance violations, financial losses, and reputational damage when such vulnerabilities are exploited. The vulnerability's persistence across multiple versions indicates a fundamental flaw in the application's data handling architecture, suggesting that the issue may have affected other similar applications within the same codebase or development framework.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2006-1118 must address both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. The primary solution involves upgrading to Aardvark PR9.1 or later versions where the vulnerability has been patched, ensuring proper input validation and parameterized query execution throughout the application. Organizations should implement comprehensive character set handling procedures that normalize all input data regardless of encoding, including proper escaping of special characters in multibyte environments. Database access controls must be strengthened through the principle of least privilege, limiting application database accounts to only necessary permissions and implementing proper audit logging for all database operations. Input validation routines should be enhanced to specifically detect and reject malformed character sequences, particularly those that could be used to bypass security controls. Network segmentation and intrusion detection systems should monitor for unusual database query patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, while regular security assessments should verify that all input processing components properly handle multibyte character encodings. Additionally, developers should adopt secure coding practices that emphasize parameterized queries and avoid dynamic SQL construction, particularly when dealing with user-supplied data in internationalized applications.