CVE-2006-4370 in WebAdmin
Summary
by MITRE
Alt-N WebAdmin 3.2.3 and 3.2.4 running with MDaemon 9.0.5, and possibly earlier, allow remote authenticated domain administrators to change a global administrator s password and gain privileges via the userlist.wdm file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/24/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-4370 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within Alt-N WebAdmin version 3.2.3 and 3.2.4 when operating in conjunction with MDaemon 9.0.5 and potentially earlier versions. This security weakness stems from improper access controls and inadequate input validation mechanisms within the web administration interface. The vulnerability specifically targets domain administrator accounts that have been authenticated to the system, allowing them to exploit a flaw in the user management functionality to manipulate administrative credentials.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the manipulation of the userlist.wdm file through the WebAdmin interface. This file contains user account information and authentication details that are critical to system security. Domain administrators with legitimate access can exploit a lack of proper authorization checks to modify global administrator accounts, effectively bypassing the intended security boundaries between different privilege levels. The flaw essentially allows a lower-privileged authenticated user to escalate their privileges by altering the password of a higher-privileged account, creating a direct path to administrative control of the entire MDaemon system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally undermines the security model of the MDaemon email server platform. Once exploited, an authenticated domain administrator can gain full administrative control over the entire system, including access to all email accounts, configuration settings, and potentially sensitive data stored within the email infrastructure. This vulnerability effectively eliminates the concept of role-based access control within the affected system, as domain administrators can assume the identity and permissions of global administrators. The implications are particularly severe in environments where multiple domain administrators exist, as any one of them could potentially exploit this weakness to gain complete system control.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-269, which addresses "Improper Privilege Management," and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1078.002 for Valid Accounts and T1548.001 for Abuse of Functionality. The flaw represents a classic case of insufficient authorization checks where the system fails to properly validate that the requesting user has appropriate permissions to modify accounts with higher privileges than their own. Organizations running affected versions of MDaemon should immediately implement mitigations including applying the vendor-provided security patches, restricting access to the WebAdmin interface through network segmentation, and implementing additional monitoring for suspicious administrative activities. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of principle of least privilege and proper access control implementation within web-based management interfaces.