CVE-2014-4945 in IMP
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in Horde Internet Mail Program (IMP) before 6.1.8, as used in Horde Groupware Webmail Edition before 5.1.5, allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via an unspecified flag in the basic (1) mailbox or (2) message view.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/10/2022
The CVE-2014-4945 vulnerability represents a significant security flaw in the Horde Internet Mail Program (IMP) that affected versions prior to 6.1.8 and the associated Horde Groupware Webmail Edition before 5.1.5. This vulnerability falls under the category of cross-site scripting attacks, which are among the most prevalent and dangerous web application security issues. The flaw specifically resides in how the application handles user input within mailbox and message view contexts, creating an avenue for malicious actors to execute arbitrary web scripts or HTML code in the browsers of other users. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple data theft, as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, deface web interfaces, or redirect users to malicious sites.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the IMP application's rendering mechanisms. When users navigate through mailboxes or view individual messages, the application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data that may contain script tags or malicious HTML content. The unspecified flag mentioned in the description suggests that the vulnerability manifests when processing certain parameters or attributes within the application's communication protocols, particularly those related to email headers or message metadata. This weakness aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities where untrusted data is improperly handled during web page generation. The vulnerability's nature indicates a failure in the application's defense-in-depth strategy, as it does not implement proper sanitization or encoding of user-controllable input before rendering it in the browser context.
The operational impact of CVE-2014-4945 is substantial, as it allows remote attackers to execute malicious code in the context of a victim's browser session without requiring authentication or privileged access. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of users, or inject malicious content that could compromise the entire webmail environment. The vulnerability affects not only individual users but also organizations that rely on Horde Groupware for email services, potentially leading to widespread security incidents. From an attacker's perspective, this vulnerability provides a low-effort, high-impact vector for conducting social engineering campaigns or launching more sophisticated attacks such as credential theft through session hijacking. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that email applications are often the primary entry point for enterprise security breaches and are frequently used to deliver phishing attacks or malware payloads.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation through patching to address this vulnerability, as the affected versions of IMP and Horde Groupware Webmail Edition are no longer supported and lack security updates. The recommended mitigation strategy involves upgrading to versions 6.1.8 or later for IMP and 5.1.5 or later for Horde Groupware Webmail Edition, which contain the necessary input validation and output encoding fixes. Additionally, network administrators should implement proper web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious script injection attempts, while security teams should conduct thorough penetration testing to identify any potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing robust input validation mechanisms, as outlined in the ATT&CK framework's web application exploitation techniques. Organizations should also consider implementing content security policies to limit script execution and enhance overall browser security posture, particularly when dealing with webmail applications that process untrusted user input from email communications.