CVE-2008-3082 in Enterprise Anti-Spam Gateway
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in UPM/English/login/login.asp in Commtouch Enterprise Anti-Spam Gateway 4 and 5 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the PARAMS parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/21/2017
The CVE-2008-3082 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Commtouch Enterprise Anti-Spam Gateway version 4 and 5 products. This vulnerability specifically affects the UPM/English/login/login.asp component, which serves as the primary authentication interface for the anti-spam gateway system. The flaw arises from insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the web application's login page, creating an exploitable entry point for malicious actors seeking to compromise the system's security posture. The vulnerability is particularly concerning as it targets the authentication mechanism, which serves as the primary gateway for system access and administration.
The technical implementation of this XSS vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly sanitize user-supplied input parameters, specifically the PARAMS parameter that is processed during the login authentication flow. When the application receives the PARAMS parameter without adequate validation or encoding, it directly incorporates the user-provided content into the web response without proper sanitization. This allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code, HTML content, or other script-based payloads that execute within the context of a victim's browser session. The vulnerability is classified as a reflected XSS attack since the malicious payload is reflected back to the user through the application's response, making it particularly effective for phishing attacks and session hijacking attempts. According to CWE-79, this vulnerability directly maps to the "Cross-site Scripting" weakness category, which encompasses various forms of XSS attacks including reflected, stored, and DOM-based variants.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or session manipulation. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to perform session hijacking, redirect authenticated users to malicious websites, or execute arbitrary commands within the browser context of legitimate users. The Commtouch Enterprise Anti-Spam Gateway serves as a critical security infrastructure component that processes and filters email traffic for organizations, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous. An attacker who successfully exploits this XSS flaw could potentially gain unauthorized access to the anti-spam gateway's administrative interface, modify spam filtering rules, or redirect email traffic to malicious destinations. The vulnerability also enables social engineering attacks where attackers can craft malicious login pages that appear legitimate to users, potentially leading to full system compromise. This represents a significant risk to enterprise email security infrastructure, as the gateway's authentication mechanism serves as the first line of defense against spam and malicious email traffic.
Organizations should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability effectively. The primary mitigation strategy involves implementing proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the web application to sanitize all user-supplied parameters before processing or displaying them. This includes implementing Content Security Policy headers to prevent unauthorized script execution, employing proper HTML encoding for all dynamic content, and implementing strict input validation routines that reject or sanitize potentially malicious content. According to ATT&CK framework technique T1566, this vulnerability aligns with the "Phishing" tactic where attackers exploit web application vulnerabilities to craft deceptive login pages. Network segmentation and monitoring should also be implemented to detect anomalous login behavior or unauthorized access attempts. Additionally, organizations should ensure that their Commtouch systems are updated to versions that have addressed this specific vulnerability, as the vendor would have likely released patches or updates to resolve the XSS implementation flaw. Regular security assessments and web application vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar input validation weaknesses in other components of the email security infrastructure.