CVE-2008-7280 in OTRS
Summary
by MITRE
Kernel/System/EmailParser.pm in PostmasterPOP3.pl in Open Ticket Request System (OTRS) before 2.2.7 does not properly handle e-mail messages containing malformed UTF-8 characters, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (e-mail retrieval outage) via a crafted message.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/19/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-7280 resides within the Open Ticket Request System (OTRS) software, specifically in the Kernel/System/EmailParser.pm component of the PostmasterPOP3.pl module. This flaw represents a classic buffer overflow or parsing error that occurs when processing email messages containing malformed UTF-8 character sequences. The issue affects OTRS versions prior to 2.2.7, making it a significant security concern for organizations relying on this ticketing system for email handling and customer support operations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the email parsing logic. When the EmailParser.pm module encounters email messages with malformed UTF-8 characters, it fails to properly sanitize or handle these invalid sequences during the parsing process. This improper handling causes the system to crash or become unresponsive, leading to a denial of service condition that prevents legitimate email retrieval operations. The flaw operates at the kernel level system processing, making it particularly dangerous as it affects the core email handling functionality of the entire system.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates substantial disruption to business processes that depend on email ticket creation and management. Organizations using OTRS for customer support, help desk operations, and incident management face potential service outages when malicious actors send crafted email messages designed to exploit this weakness. The denial of service impact extends beyond simple email processing failures, potentially affecting customer satisfaction, support response times, and overall operational efficiency. The vulnerability can be exploited remotely without requiring authentication, making it particularly dangerous in environments where email systems are publicly accessible.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-170, which addresses improper handling of input that can lead to buffer overflows or other parsing errors, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for denial of service attacks. Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including applying the official security patch available for OTRS 2.2.7 and later versions, implementing email filtering rules to detect and block malformed UTF-8 sequences, and establishing monitoring protocols to identify potential exploitation attempts. Additionally, regular security assessments of email handling components and input validation procedures should be conducted to prevent similar vulnerabilities from emerging in other system components.