CVE-2014-0079 in Zarafa
Summary
by MITRE
The ValidateUserLogon function in provider/libserver/ECSession.cpp in Zarafa 7.1.8, 6.20.0, and earlier, when using certain build conditions, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via vectors related to "a NULL pointer of the password."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/12/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-0079 represents a critical denial of service flaw within the Zarafa email server software ecosystem. This issue specifically affects versions 7.1.8 and 6.20.0, along with their earlier releases, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on these versions for their email infrastructure. The vulnerability manifests within the ValidateUserLogon function located in the provider/libserver/ECSession.cpp file, which serves as a crucial component in the authentication process for the Zarafa platform.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the authentication mechanism. When the system encounters certain build conditions, the ValidateUserLogon function fails to properly handle NULL pointer references related to password validation. This occurs during the user logon process where the system attempts to validate credentials without sufficient null checks on password parameters. The flaw essentially allows an attacker to craft malicious authentication requests that deliberately include NULL password values, causing the application to crash when attempting to dereference these invalid pointers. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-476 category of NULL Pointer Dereference, which is classified as a common weakness in software design that leads to application instability and potential system crashes.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it creates opportunities for attackers to systematically destabilize email services within organizations. Remote attackers can exploit this weakness to initiate denial of service attacks against Zarafa servers, potentially affecting thousands of users who depend on email communication for business operations. The crash condition results in complete service interruption, requiring manual intervention to restart the affected services and restore normal operations. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations that have not yet upgraded to patched versions of the Zarafa software, leaving them exposed to potential attacks that could disrupt critical business communications.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate remediation through official software updates provided by Zarafa. The recommended mitigation strategy involves upgrading to patched versions of the Zarafa software that address the NULL pointer dereference issue in the ValidateUserLogon function. Additionally, network-level security measures such as implementing authentication rate limiting and monitoring for unusual authentication patterns can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts. From a defensive standpoint, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for Network Denial of Service and demonstrates the importance of proper input validation in authentication systems. Security teams should also implement comprehensive logging and monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and ensure that all authentication-related components properly validate input parameters before processing. The vulnerability underscores the necessity of thorough code review processes and proper error handling mechanisms in security-critical applications to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.