CVE-2015-6845 in SourceOne Email Supervisor
Summary
by MITRE
EMC SourceOne Email Supervisor before 7.2 does not properly employ random values for session IDs, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain access by guessing an ID.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/22/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-6845 affects EMC SourceOne Email Supervisor versions prior to 7.2, representing a critical weakness in session management that directly impacts the security posture of email infrastructure. This flaw resides in the application's inability to generate sufficiently random session identifiers, creating predictable session tokens that can be exploited by malicious actors to gain unauthorized access to the system. The vulnerability specifically targets the session management component of the email supervision platform, which is responsible for maintaining user authentication states and controlling access to administrative functions within the email environment.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from insufficient entropy in the random number generation algorithm used for session ID creation. When session identifiers lack proper randomness, they become susceptible to prediction attacks where an attacker can systematically guess valid session tokens. This weakness aligns with CWE-330, which categorizes the use of weak random number generators as a significant security flaw. The predictable nature of session IDs allows threat actors to bypass authentication mechanisms and potentially gain administrative privileges within the SourceOne Email Supervisor environment. Attackers can exploit this by generating or enumerating session tokens that are likely to be valid, thereby enabling session hijacking and unauthorized access to email management functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it can lead to complete compromise of email infrastructure and potential data breaches. An attacker who successfully guesses a valid session ID can access sensitive email data, modify email configurations, and potentially exfiltrate confidential information from the email environment. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely on SourceOne Email Supervisor for email archiving and supervision, as it undermines the integrity of the email governance framework. The threat landscape for this vulnerability includes both external attackers seeking to exploit the system and internal malicious actors who might leverage this weakness to maintain persistence within the email infrastructure.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to EMC SourceOne Email Supervisor version 7.2 or later, which contains proper session ID randomization mechanisms. Network segmentation and access controls should be strengthened to limit exposure of the affected system to untrusted networks. Additionally, monitoring for suspicious session activity and implementing intrusion detection systems can help identify exploitation attempts. The remediation process should also include reviewing and updating session management configurations to ensure proper entropy levels are maintained. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1566 - Phishing and T1078 - Valid Accounts, as attackers can leverage predictable session tokens to establish persistent access and potentially escalate privileges within the email infrastructure. Organizations should also consider implementing additional authentication controls such as multi-factor authentication to provide defense-in-depth against session hijacking attacks that exploit weak session management.