CVE-2018-10356 in Email Encryption Gateway
Summary
by MITRE
A SQL injection remote code execution vulnerability in Trend Micro Email Encryption Gateway 5.5 could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary SQL statements on vulnerable installations due to a flaw in the formRequestDomains class. Authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/08/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-10356 represents a critical security flaw in Trend Micro Email Encryption Gateway version 5.5 that exposes organizations to significant risk of unauthorized access and system compromise. This vulnerability resides within the formRequestDomains class component of the email encryption gateway software, which processes domain-related requests from users and administrators. The flaw allows for remote code execution through SQL injection techniques, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited over the network without requiring physical access to the system. The vulnerability requires authentication to exploit, meaning that an attacker must first obtain valid credentials, but once obtained, the impact can be devastating to the organization's email security infrastructure.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation within the formRequestDomains class where user-supplied data is directly incorporated into SQL queries without adequate sanitization or parameterization. This classic SQL injection flaw occurs when the application fails to properly escape or validate user input before using it in database operations, allowing malicious actors to inject additional SQL commands that are then executed by the database engine. The CWE-89 identifier applies to this vulnerability as it represents a direct SQL injection attack vector where untrusted data flows into a SQL query context. The attack chain typically involves an authenticated user submitting malicious input through the email gateway's domain configuration interface, which then gets processed by the vulnerable formRequestDomains class and executed against the underlying database.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or manipulation, as successful exploitation can lead to complete system compromise and unauthorized access to encrypted email communications. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges, access sensitive email data, modify encryption policies, or even establish persistent backdoors within the email infrastructure. The email encryption gateway serves as a critical security component for organizations, making this vulnerability particularly attractive to threat actors who seek to undermine email security measures. From an attack perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers legitimate credentials usage, and T1041 which covers data compression and exfiltration. Organizations may face regulatory compliance issues if email data is compromised, as encryption gateways are often deployed to meet specific security standards and data protection requirements.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-10356 should prioritize immediate patching of the Trend Micro Email Encryption Gateway to the latest available version that addresses this vulnerability. Organizations should also implement network segmentation to limit access to the email encryption gateway to authorized personnel only, and deploy additional monitoring to detect unusual database query patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The principle of least privilege should be enforced for all accounts with access to the email encryption gateway, and multi-factor authentication should be implemented where possible. Security teams should also conduct thorough network monitoring to identify any unauthorized access attempts or unusual database activity that could indicate exploitation of this vulnerability. Regular security assessments of email encryption infrastructure are essential to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by malicious actors. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and parameterized queries in preventing SQL injection attacks, aligning with industry best practices outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and NIST cybersecurity guidelines for secure coding practices.