CVE-2012-0301 in Message Filter
Summary
by MITRE
Session fixation vulnerability in Brightmail Control Center in Symantec Message Filter 6.3 allows remote attackers to hijack web sessions via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/05/2021
The CVE-2012-0301 vulnerability represents a critical session fixation flaw within the Brightmail Control Center component of Symantec Message Filter 6.3, a widely deployed email security solution. This vulnerability specifically affects the web-based administrative interface that administrators use to manage email filtering policies and configurations. The issue stems from the application's failure to properly regenerate session identifiers upon successful authentication, creating a persistent session token that can be exploited by remote attackers to gain unauthorized access to administrative functions.
The technical nature of this flaw aligns with CWE-384, which categorizes session fixation vulnerabilities as a direct consequence of inadequate session management practices. When legitimate users authenticate to the Brightmail Control Center, the system should generate a new, unpredictable session identifier to replace the initial one. However, in this case, the application maintains the original session token, allowing an attacker who has previously obtained a valid session identifier to reuse it after a user authenticates. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and can be exploited through various network-based attack vectors without requiring any special privileges or local access to the target system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it provides attackers with complete administrative control over the email filtering infrastructure. An attacker could manipulate email policies, create malicious rules, or even disable security features that protect the organization from spam and malware. The implications are particularly severe in enterprise environments where Brightmail Control Center is used to manage large-scale email filtering operations, as the compromise of a single administrative session could affect thousands of users across multiple domains. This vulnerability also undermines the integrity of the security controls that organizations rely upon to protect their email communications from various threats.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should encompass both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. Organizations must first apply the vendor-provided security patches or updates that address the session management flaw in Symantec Message Filter 6.3. Additionally, implementing proper session management practices such as automatic session regeneration upon authentication, enforcing secure session cookie attributes, and establishing session timeout mechanisms would significantly reduce the risk of exploitation. Network segmentation and access control measures should also be deployed to limit the attack surface and prevent unauthorized access to administrative interfaces. From a defensive perspective, this vulnerability highlights the importance of adhering to security best practices outlined in the OWASP Top 10 and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which covers credential harvesting through session fixation attacks, emphasizing the need for robust session management as a fundamental security control.