CVE-2006-6964 in MailEnable Professional
Summary
by MITRE
MailEnable Professional before 1.78 provides a cleartext user password when an administrator edits the user s settings, which allows remote authenticated administrators to obtain sensitive information by viewing the HTML source.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/07/2017
The vulnerability described in CVE-2006-6964 affects MailEnable Professional versions prior to 1.78, representing a critical information disclosure flaw that undermines the security posture of email server configurations. This issue manifests when administrative users attempt to modify user account settings through the web interface, creating an exposure that directly compromises the confidentiality of authentication credentials. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of sensitive data within the web application's user interface, specifically failing to adequately mask or encrypt password fields during administrative editing operations.
The technical implementation flaw occurs within the web-based management interface where the application displays user account information in cleartext format, including password values that should remain protected. This design oversight creates a scenario where any authenticated administrator with sufficient privileges can access the HTML source code of the user settings page, thereby extracting password information that was never intended to be visible to administrative users. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and specifically affects the presentation logic rather than underlying cryptographic mechanisms, making it particularly insidious as it exploits the trust model of administrative access rather than bypassing authentication entirely.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability significantly increases the attack surface for privileged accounts within email infrastructure deployments. Remote authenticated administrators who can access the web interface can leverage this flaw to extract password information from user accounts, potentially enabling lateral movement within the email ecosystem or escalation to other systems where these credentials might be reused. The impact extends beyond simple credential theft as compromised passwords could facilitate unauthorized email access, data exfiltration, and potential compromise of additional user accounts that rely on shared authentication mechanisms. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and demonstrates poor input/output sanitization practices within the web application framework.
The security implications of this vulnerability align with CWE-200, which addresses information exposure, and represents a clear violation of the principle of information hiding in system design. From an adversary perspective, this flaw fits within the attack pattern described by MITRE ATT&CK technique T1552, specifically targeting credentials in files or databases, though in this case the exposure occurs through web interface source code rather than traditional file system access. Organizations utilizing MailEnable Professional versions before 1.78 face significant risk of credential compromise, particularly in environments where administrative access is shared across multiple personnel or where privilege separation is not properly enforced.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching to MailEnable Professional version 1.78 or later, which addresses the cleartext password exposure issue through proper field masking and secure presentation of sensitive information. Administrators should also implement additional security controls including regular access reviews, enforcement of least privilege principles, and monitoring for unauthorized administrative access attempts. Network segmentation and secure remote access solutions should be deployed to limit exposure of the web management interface to trusted networks only. Organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any other instances of cleartext credential exposure within their email infrastructure and related systems. The remediation process must include verification that password fields are properly masked and that administrative users cannot extract sensitive information through source code inspection, ensuring that the fix addresses the root cause rather than merely masking symptoms of the underlying vulnerability.