CVE-2023-29714 in Secure Gateway
Summary
by MITRE • 06/09/2023
Cross Site Scripting vulnerability found in Vade Secure Gateway allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code via the username, password, and language cookies parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/13/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-29714 represents a critical cross site scripting flaw within the Vade Secure Gateway security solution, which operates as a comprehensive email security platform designed to protect organizations from various cyber threats. This vulnerability specifically affects the gateway's handling of authentication and localization parameters, creating a significant attack surface that could be exploited by remote threat actors without requiring any privileged access or authentication credentials. The affected system processes user-provided data through username, password, and language cookie parameters, which are typically used for session management and user interface localization purposes.
The technical implementation flaw stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the Vade Secure Gateway's web interface. When the system processes these cookie parameters, it fails to properly sanitize or escape user-supplied data before incorporating it into dynamic web responses, resulting in a classic XSS vulnerability that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into the victim's browser context. This particular vulnerability manifests in the authentication and localization components of the gateway, where the system directly reflects user-provided cookie values without proper security controls. The issue falls under CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities, where the application fails to properly encode or escape output data that originates from untrusted sources.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it provides attackers with the capability to establish persistent access to the security gateway's administrative interfaces. An attacker could potentially manipulate the username, password, or language parameters to inject malicious JavaScript code that would execute in the context of authenticated users' browsers, enabling session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability's remote exploitability means that threat actors can target the gateway from external networks without requiring physical access or network proximity, making it particularly dangerous for organizations that rely on Vade Secure Gateway for email security protection. This could result in unauthorized access to email traffic monitoring capabilities, modification of security policies, or complete compromise of the email security infrastructure.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of the ATT&CK framework, particularly under the techniques related to credential access and persistence mechanisms. The vulnerability enables attackers to potentially establish long-term access to the email security infrastructure, which could be used to monitor or manipulate email communications flowing through the organization. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including input validation for all cookie parameters, output encoding for dynamic content, and regular security assessments of web applications. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of secure coding practices and the need for comprehensive security testing of authentication and session management components, particularly in security infrastructure products where compromise could lead to widespread organizational impact.