CVE-2010-4550 in Lotus Notes Traveler
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Lotus Notes Traveler before 8.5.1.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (sync failure) via a malformed document.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/08/2018
IBM Lotus Notes Traveler version 8.5.1.2 and earlier contains a vulnerability that enables remote attackers to trigger a denial of service condition through the manipulation of document synchronization requests. This flaw exists within the server-side processing logic that handles synchronization operations between mobile devices and the Lotus Notes server. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the system encounters malformed documents during the synchronization process, causing the Traveler service to fail and resulting in sync failures for affected users.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and error handling within the document processing pipeline of the Lotus Notes Traveler component. When a malicious actor submits a specially crafted document that violates expected formatting or structural requirements, the system fails to properly handle the malformed input and instead terminates the synchronization session. This behavior aligns with CWE-20, which addresses improper input validation, and represents a classic example of a resource exhaustion vulnerability where the service becomes unavailable due to improper error handling. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and requires no authentication to exploit, making it particularly dangerous as it can be leveraged by any remote attacker.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially affect business continuity and user productivity within organizations that rely on mobile synchronization capabilities. When synchronization fails, users lose access to their calendar entries, contacts, and other critical data that should be available on their mobile devices. The denial of service condition can affect multiple users simultaneously if the malicious input is broadcast or if the vulnerability is exploited at scale. This issue particularly impacts organizations using IBM Lotus Notes Traveler for mobile device management, where the synchronization service is critical for maintaining up-to-date information across corporate devices. The vulnerability creates an opportunity for attackers to disrupt business operations and could potentially be used as part of a broader attack campaign targeting enterprise mobile infrastructure.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to IBM Lotus Notes Traveler version 8.5.1.3 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address this vulnerability. Network-level protections such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems can be configured to monitor for suspicious synchronization patterns, though these measures are not foolproof given the nature of the attack. The vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and represents a significant risk to the availability of mobile collaboration services within enterprise environments. Administrators should also consider implementing additional logging and monitoring to detect unusual synchronization behavior and establish incident response procedures to address potential exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments of mobile device management systems are recommended to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities that may exist in other components of the enterprise mobile infrastructure.