CVE-2012-4582 in Email
Summary
by MITRE
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 authenticated users to reset the passwords of arbitrary administrative accounts via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/25/2018
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-4582 affects McAfee Email and Web Security (EWS) versions 5.x before 5.5 Patch 6 and 5.6 before Patch 3, as well as McAfee Email Gateway (MEG) 7.0 before Patch 1. This security flaw represents a critical authentication bypass issue that permits remote authenticated attackers to manipulate administrative account credentials. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and access control mechanisms within the administrative interfaces of these email security solutions. Attackers who have already gained legitimate authentication credentials can exploit this weakness to reset passwords for any administrative account within the system, effectively undermining the security posture of organizations relying on these platforms.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves unspecified vectors that likely exploit weaknesses in the password reset functionality or administrative account management components. According to CWE classification, this vulnerability maps to CWE-305: Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness, which encompasses flaws where authentication mechanisms can be circumvented or manipulated by attackers with legitimate access. The flaw essentially allows privilege escalation through unauthorized password modification, where authenticated users can leverage their existing credentials to compromise other administrative accounts. This represents a significant deviation from proper access control principles where authentication should be required for each distinct administrative function rather than allowing one authenticated session to affect multiple administrative accounts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential compromise, as it enables attackers to gain full administrative control over email security infrastructure. Organizations using affected McAfee products face substantial risk of data breaches, as attackers could manipulate email filtering rules, access sensitive communications, disable security features, or establish backdoors within the email environment. The vulnerability's remote nature means attackers do not require physical access to network infrastructure, and the authenticated vector suggests that even legitimate users with compromised credentials could be exploited to escalate privileges. This flaw directly impacts the CIA triad by compromising confidentiality through unauthorized access to email content, integrity through potential manipulation of security policies, and availability through potential disruption of email services.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-4582 primarily involve applying the vendor-provided security patches, specifically McAfee's Patch 6 for EWS 5.x and 5.6, and Patch 1 for MEG 7.0. Organizations should also implement network segmentation to limit access to administrative interfaces, enforce strict access control policies, and monitor administrative account activities for suspicious password reset operations. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with T1078: Valid Accounts and T1566: Phishing, as it enables attackers to leverage legitimate administrative accounts to maintain persistence and escalate privileges. Network administrators should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts and establishing robust audit logging to detect unauthorized password reset activities. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper access control implementation and the necessity of regular security updates to protect against known exploitation vectors in enterprise email security infrastructure.