CVE-2012-4580 in Email
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in McAfee Email and Web Security (EWS) 5.x before 5.5 Patch 6 and 5.6 before Patch 3, and McAfee Email Gateway (MEG) 7.0 before Patch 1, allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via vectors related to the McAfee Security Appliance Management Console/Dashboard.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/22/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-4580 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw affecting McAfee Email and Web Security appliances and Email Gateway systems. This weakness resides within the management console and dashboard interfaces of these security appliances, creating a significant attack surface that could be exploited by remote threat actors. The vulnerability impacts multiple product versions including McAfee EWS 5.x before 5.5 Patch 6, 5.6 before Patch 3, and McAfee Email Gateway 7.0 before Patch 1, indicating a widespread issue affecting the core administrative interfaces of these security solutions.
The technical flaw stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding within the McAfee Security Appliance Management Console and Dashboard components. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability by injecting malicious web scripts or HTML code through specific vectors that interact with the appliance's administrative interface. The root cause aligns with CWE-79 which defines cross-site scripting as the improper handling of untrusted data in web applications, where user-supplied input is directly reflected back to users without proper sanitization or encoding. This allows attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of the victim's browser session, potentially compromising the security of the administrative interface and underlying systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it provides attackers with the capability to manipulate the administrative console and potentially gain unauthorized access to the security appliance configuration. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to steal administrative credentials, modify security policies, redirect users to malicious sites, or perform actions as if they were authenticated administrators. This represents a severe compromise of the security appliance's integrity and confidentiality, as the management interface is typically considered a privileged access point that should remain protected from unauthorized manipulation. The vulnerability's presence in the dashboard and management console components means that any user with access to these interfaces could become a potential vector for further attacks within the network environment.
The attack surface for this vulnerability is particularly concerning given that the management console and dashboard interfaces are often accessible from external networks, especially in enterprise environments where remote administration is required. This makes the vulnerability exploitable from outside the corporate network, potentially allowing attackers to compromise security appliances without requiring physical access or network infiltration. The attack vector involves crafting malicious input that gets processed and reflected back through the web interface, creating a persistent XSS condition that can be triggered when administrators or other users view the affected pages. Organizations should consider this vulnerability in the context of the ATT&CK framework's T1071.004 technique for application layer protocol tunneling, as attackers could potentially use this vulnerability to establish persistent access to administrative interfaces. Mitigation strategies should include immediate patching of affected systems, implementation of web application firewalls, and restriction of administrative interface access to trusted networks only. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments to identify any other potential input validation weaknesses in their security infrastructure components, as this vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input sanitization in administrative web interfaces.