CVE-2008-2831 in SMTP
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in the delegated spam management feature in the Spam Quarantine Management (SQM) component in MailMarshal SMTP 6.0.3.8 through 6.3.0.0 allow user-assisted remote authenticated users to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via (1) the list of blocked senders or (2) the list of safe senders.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/17/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-2831 represents a critical cross-site scripting weakness within the MailMarshal SMTP email security solution, specifically affecting versions 6.0.3.8 through 6.3.0.0. This flaw resides in the Spam Quarantine Management component's delegated spam management feature, which is designed to allow administrators to manage quarantined spam messages and configure sender lists. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the web interface components that handle the blocked senders and safe senders lists, creating a persistent security gap that can be exploited by authenticated attackers with knowledge of the system's administrative interface.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through user-assisted remote attacks where authenticated users can manipulate the spam management interface to inject malicious script code into the sender list management features. When the web application displays these lists to other users, including administrators, the injected scripts execute in the context of the victim's browser session, potentially leading to unauthorized actions such as session hijacking, data exfiltration, or privilege escalation. The vulnerability specifically affects two distinct data entry points within the SQM component where user-supplied data is directly rendered without proper sanitization, making it susceptible to XSS payload injection. This weakness aligns with CWE-79, which classifies cross-site scripting as a common web application vulnerability where insufficient validation of user-supplied data allows malicious scripts to be executed in the context of other users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it can enable attackers to compromise the entire spam management system and potentially gain access to sensitive email communications. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can manipulate the spam quarantine system to either bypass spam filtering mechanisms or redirect legitimate emails to malicious destinations. The authenticated nature of the attack means that even if the initial compromise requires legitimate administrative credentials, the vulnerability creates a persistent backdoor that can be exploited repeatedly. This weakness significantly undermines the security posture of organizations relying on MailMarshal SMTP for email protection, as it allows unauthorized modification of spam management policies and potentially provides a pathway for broader network compromise.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to patched versions of MailMarshal SMTP, implementing proper input validation and output encoding measures, and applying web application firewalls to detect and block XSS attempts. The security community should consider this vulnerability as part of the ATT&CK framework's web application attacks category, specifically targeting the execution and privilege escalation phases. Additional defensive measures include regular security assessments of email infrastructure components, implementation of principle of least privilege for administrative accounts, and comprehensive monitoring of spam management system activities for suspicious modifications to sender lists. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input validation in web applications and serves as a reminder that even authenticated administrative interfaces must properly sanitize all user-supplied data to prevent XSS exploitation.