CVE-2017-7288 in Zimbra Collaboration
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) before 8.7.1 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/25/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-7288 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Zimbra Collaboration Suite version 8.7.1 and earlier releases. This security weakness resides in the web application interface of Zimbra's email and collaboration platform, which is widely deployed across enterprise environments for business communication and file sharing. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute malicious scripts within the context of other users' browsers, potentially compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive organizational data.
The technical nature of this XSS vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the Zimbra web client. Attackers can exploit this weakness through unspecified vectors that likely involve crafted user input fields or parameters within the web application's interface. The vulnerability manifests when user-supplied data is reflected back to the browser without proper sanitization, creating an opportunity for malicious code injection. This flaw falls under the Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-79, which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities where applications fail to properly validate or escape user-controllable input before incorporating it into dynamically generated web pages.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-7288 extends beyond simple script execution, as it provides attackers with the capability to perform session hijacking, steal authentication tokens, redirect users to malicious sites, or even execute arbitrary commands on behalf of authenticated users. In enterprise environments where Zimbra serves as the primary email and collaboration platform, successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive business communications, confidential documents, calendar entries, and contact information. The vulnerability particularly threatens organizations that rely heavily on Zimbra for internal communications, as attackers could leverage this weakness to gain persistent access to corporate email accounts and potentially escalate privileges within the network.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate remediation through the installation of Zimbra Collaboration Suite version 8.7.1 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address the XSS weakness. Security teams should also implement additional defensive measures including web application firewalls, enhanced input validation controls, and regular security assessments of the email infrastructure. The mitigation strategy should align with ATT&CK framework techniques related to defense evasion and credential access, as this vulnerability could be leveraged for initial access and privilege escalation within compromised environments. Network monitoring should be enhanced to detect suspicious patterns in web traffic that might indicate exploitation attempts, while user education programs should emphasize the dangers of clicking on untrusted links or opening suspicious email attachments that could trigger XSS payloads.