CVE-2022-29976 in MDaemon
Summary
by MITRE • 05/11/2022
An Authenticated Reflected Cross-site scripting at BCC Parameter was discovered in MDaemon before 22.0.0 .
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/13/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-29976 represents a critical authenticated reflected cross-site scripting flaw discovered in MDaemon email server software prior to version 22.0.0. This vulnerability resides within the BCC parameter handling mechanism of the web-based administration interface, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on MDaemon for their email infrastructure. The flaw allows authenticated attackers with valid credentials to inject malicious scripts into the application's response, which are then executed in the context of other users' browsers who access the affected functionality.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding within the MDaemon web administration panel. When a user submits data through the BCC parameter, the application fails to properly sanitize the input before reflecting it back to the user's browser. This insufficient sanitization creates an environment where malicious payloads can be embedded within the BCC field and subsequently executed when other authenticated users view the affected page. The vulnerability operates under CWE-79 which categorizes improper neutralization of input during web page generation, specifically addressing reflected cross-site scripting conditions where attacker-supplied data is immediately returned to the user.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a substantial risk to organizations as it requires only authentication credentials to exploit, significantly reducing the attack surface compared to unauthenticated vulnerabilities. An attacker with legitimate access to the MDaemon administration interface can craft malicious BCC parameters that will execute in the browser context of other administrators or users who interact with the affected functionality. The reflected nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious script is not stored on the server but rather injected into the response stream, making detection more challenging for traditional security controls and allowing for targeted attacks against specific users.
The exploitation of CVE-2022-29976 aligns with several ATT&CK framework techniques including T1566.001 for credential access through phishing and T1583.001 for obtaining credentials through various methods. The vulnerability can be leveraged to perform session hijacking, steal administrative credentials, or execute arbitrary code in the context of the victim's browser. Attackers could potentially use this vulnerability to establish persistent access to the email infrastructure, escalate privileges within the organization's email ecosystem, or redirect users to malicious domains that could harvest additional credentials or deploy malware.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to MDaemon version 22.0.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability, as the patch addresses the input validation deficiencies and implements proper output encoding for the BCC parameter. Additional mitigations include implementing strict input validation policies, enabling web application firewalls to monitor for suspicious parameter patterns, and conducting regular security assessments of web-based administrative interfaces. Network segmentation and privilege separation can help limit the potential impact if an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, while user education regarding suspicious email behaviors remains crucial for overall security posture. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation in web applications and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of administrative interfaces that handle user-supplied data.