CVE-2017-5211 in OX App Suite
Summary
by MITRE
Open-Xchange GmbH OX App Suite 7.8.3 and earlier is affected by: Content Spoofing.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/14/2020
The vulnerability CVE-2017-5211 represents a content spoofing issue within Open-Xchange GmbH's OX App Suite version 7.8.3 and earlier installations. This security flaw allows attackers to manipulate the display of content in a manner that can deceive users into believing they are interacting with legitimate system elements while actually encountering maliciously crafted information. The vulnerability specifically affects the application's handling of content presentation and user interface elements, creating opportunities for social engineering attacks and potentially leading to more severe compromise scenarios.
The technical implementation of this content spoofing vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the OX App Suite application. When the system processes user-generated content or external data sources, it fails to properly sanitize or escape certain characters and markup elements that could influence how the content appears to end users. This weakness enables attackers to inject malicious content that appears to originate from trusted sources within the application's interface, effectively bypassing normal security controls designed to prevent such manipulations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple visual deception, as it creates potential pathways for more sophisticated attacks within the application environment. Users may be misled into providing sensitive information, clicking on malicious links, or performing actions based on the spoofed content they perceive. The vulnerability particularly affects web-based email and collaboration platforms where users frequently interact with rich content and dynamic interfaces. Attackers could exploit this weakness to craft convincing phishing attempts, manipulate system notifications, or present false information that could compromise user trust and system integrity.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-5211 should focus on implementing robust input validation and output encoding controls throughout the application's content processing pipeline. Organizations should ensure that all user-generated content undergoes proper sanitization before being displayed to end users, with particular attention to HTML and JavaScript content that could be exploited for spoofing purposes. Regular security updates and patches from Open-Xchange GmbH should be applied promptly to address the underlying implementation flaws. Additionally, network monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous content delivery patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1566 related to spearphishing attacks through social engineering. Organizations should also consider implementing content security policies and browser-based security controls to provide additional defense layers against content manipulation attacks.