CVE-2015-1574 in Email
Summary
by MITRE
The Google Email application 4.2.2.0200 for Android allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (persistent application crash) via a "Content-Disposition: ;" header in an e-mail message.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/10/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-1574 represents a significant denial of service weakness within the Google Email application version 4.2.2.0200 for Android platforms. This flaw specifically targets the email client's handling of malformed Content-Disposition headers, creating a persistent crash condition that can be triggered remotely through crafted email messages. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly innocuous header fields in email communications can be exploited to disrupt normal application functionality, potentially affecting users who receive maliciously formatted emails.
The technical mechanism behind this vulnerability involves the application's insufficient input validation and error handling within the email parsing process. When the Google Email client encounters an email message containing a Content-Disposition header with an empty or malformed value such as "Content-Disposition: ;", the application fails to properly process this header field. This parsing failure leads to an unhandled exception or memory corruption within the email client's processing pipeline, resulting in persistent application crashes that require manual intervention to resolve. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the protocol level where email headers are processed, making it difficult to distinguish between legitimate and malicious content without proper sanitization.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for end users and organizations relying on the Google Email application for communication. The persistent nature of the crashes means that affected users cannot simply dismiss the problematic email and continue normal operations, as the application will continue to crash whenever it attempts to process the malicious message. This effectively renders the email client unusable until the problematic message is manually removed or the application is reset. The vulnerability can be exploited in various attack scenarios including phishing campaigns, where attackers send specifically crafted emails designed to disrupt email services, or as part of broader social engineering attacks targeting mobile email users.
The impact of this vulnerability extends beyond individual user disruption to potentially affect enterprise email security posture and operational continuity. Organizations using the affected Google Email application may experience reduced productivity as users encounter frequent application crashes, and IT support teams may be inundated with reports of email client failures. The vulnerability also demonstrates the importance of robust input validation in mobile email clients, as the issue stems from inadequate sanitization of email headers that are part of the standard email protocol. This weakness aligns with CWE-20, which describes improper input validation, and represents a classic example of how protocol-level flaws can be exploited to create denial of service conditions in mobile applications.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should focus on both immediate application-level fixes and broader defensive measures. The most effective immediate solution involves updating to a patched version of the Google Email application that properly handles malformed Content-Disposition headers through enhanced input validation and graceful error recovery mechanisms. Organizations should also implement email filtering solutions that can detect and block emails containing suspicious header formats before they reach end users. Additionally, mobile device management policies should include regular application updates and security patches to ensure that clients remain protected against known vulnerabilities. The remediation process should also involve user education about the risks of opening suspicious emails and the importance of maintaining updated email client applications. This vulnerability underscores the critical need for comprehensive security testing of email clients, particularly around protocol parsing and input validation, to prevent similar issues from affecting mobile email services in the future.