CVE-2008-6873 in Active Web Mail
Summary
by MITRE
SQL injection vulnerability in Active Web Mail 4.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via the TabOpenQuickTab1 parameter to (1) popaccounts.aspx, (2) addressbook.aspx, and (3) emails.aspx.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/12/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-6873 represents a critical sql injection flaw in Active Web Mail version 4.0 that exposes multiple web endpoints to remote code execution attacks. This vulnerability specifically affects three key pages within the application including popaccountsaspx addressbookaspx and emailsaspx which are fundamental components of the email management interface. The attack vector exploits the TabOpenQuickTab1 parameter which is processed without adequate input validation or sanitization, creating a pathway for malicious actors to inject arbitrary sql commands directly into the database layer. This type of vulnerability falls under the common weakness enumeration category CWE-89 sql injection which is classified as a high severity issue in the owasp top ten web application security risks and represents a fundamental flaw in input handling that can lead to complete system compromise. The vulnerability exists because the application fails to properly escape or parameterize user-supplied input before incorporating it into sql queries executed against the backend database.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond simple data theft as it enables attackers to execute arbitrary sql commands with the privileges of the database user account used by the web application. Successful exploitation could result in unauthorized access to sensitive email data user credentials and personal information stored within the database. Attackers could potentially escalate their privileges by injecting commands that manipulate database permissions or execute system-level operations if the database user has elevated privileges. The three affected endpoints provide attackers with multiple attack surfaces since popaccountsaspx handles account management functionality addressbookaspx manages contact information and emailsaspx processes email communications all of which contain valuable data that could be extracted or modified through sql injection. This vulnerability also aligns with several techniques documented in the mitre att&ck framework under the command and control category where attackers establish persistent access through database manipulation and data exfiltration.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both the immediate code-level fixes and broader architectural security improvements. The primary remediation involves implementing proper input validation and parameterized queries throughout the affected application components to ensure that user-supplied data cannot be interpreted as sql commands. This includes modifying the popaccountsaspx addressbookaspx and emailsaspx pages to sanitize the TabOpenQuickTab1 parameter using prepared statements or stored procedures that separate sql code from data. Organizations should also implement web application firewalls to detect and block sql injection attempts and establish proper access controls to limit database user privileges to the minimum necessary for application functionality. Additional security measures include regular security code reviews to identify similar vulnerabilities in other application components and implementing proper error handling that does not expose database structure information to end users. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of input validation and proper sql query construction in preventing data breaches and aligns with security best practices outlined in the iso 27001 and nist cybersecurity framework standards.