CVE-2011-2218 in GroupWise
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in GroupWise Internet Agent (GWIA) in Novell GroupWise 8.0 before HP3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via unknown vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2011-2219.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/12/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-2218 affects the GroupWise Internet Agent component within Novell GroupWise 8.0 before HP3 releases. This represents a critical security flaw that enables remote attackers to execute denial of service attacks against the affected system. The GroupWise Internet Agent serves as a crucial bridge between external email clients and the GroupWise messaging system, handling incoming email traffic and facilitating communication between various email protocols. The vulnerability manifests as an unspecified flaw that can trigger a daemon crash, effectively rendering the email service unavailable to legitimate users. This issue is distinct from CVE-2011-2219, indicating that multiple vulnerabilities exist within the same software version, each potentially exploitable through different attack vectors. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability vectors suggests that attackers may leverage various methods to exploit the underlying flaw, making it particularly concerning for security professionals who must protect against unknown attack patterns.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability likely resides within the GroupWise Internet Agent daemon process, which operates as a background service responsible for processing incoming email messages and managing connections with external email servers. When exploited, the vulnerability causes the daemon to crash and terminate unexpectedly, requiring manual intervention or system restart to restore normal service operations. This daemon crash represents a fundamental failure in the application's error handling mechanisms, where malformed input or unexpected conditions cause the service to become unresponsive rather than gracefully handling the error condition. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that attackers do not require physical access or local credentials to trigger the denial of service condition, making it particularly dangerous in networked environments where external access to email services is common. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability would likely map to CWE-119 or CWE-121, representing memory corruption issues that could lead to service disruption through improper handling of input data.
The operational impact of CVE-2011-2218 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise business continuity and email communication infrastructure. Organizations relying on GroupWise for email services face significant risk of communication breakdowns that could affect productivity and customer service operations. The vulnerability creates an opportunity for attackers to perform sustained denial of service attacks that could prevent legitimate users from accessing their email accounts or sending messages through the GroupWise system. In enterprise environments, this could result in cascading effects where email-based business processes fail, impacting everything from internal communications to customer support operations. The vulnerability's presence in GroupWise 8.0 before HP3 indicates that this was likely a known issue that was addressed through subsequent security patches, but organizations running vulnerable versions remain at risk. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that the GroupWise Internet Agent typically operates on standard email ports such as SMTP, IMAP, and POP3, making it accessible to attackers across the internet.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies to address the vulnerability while planning for comprehensive system updates and patches. The most effective immediate measure involves applying the security patch provided by Novell for GroupWise 8.0 HP3 and subsequent releases, which would contain the necessary fixes to prevent the daemon crash condition. Network segmentation and access control measures should be implemented to limit exposure of the GroupWise Internet Agent to trusted networks only, reducing the attack surface available to remote attackers. Monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual daemon restart patterns or service disruptions that might indicate exploitation attempts. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability aligns with techniques such as T1499.004 (Endpoint Denial of Service) and T1566.001 (Phishing with Malicious Attachment), as attackers may attempt to exploit the service disruption for broader attack objectives. Security teams should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify anomalous network traffic patterns associated with the exploitation of this vulnerability, particularly around email service ports and protocols. Long-term security posture improvements should include regular vulnerability assessments, comprehensive patch management processes, and maintaining updated threat intelligence to identify similar vulnerabilities in other email server implementations that may share similar architectural characteristics.