CVE-2023-49077 in Mailcow
Summary
by MITRE • 11/30/2023
Mailcow: dockerized is an open source groupware/email suite based on docker. A Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability has been identified within the Quarantine UI of the system. This vulnerability poses a significant threat to administrators who utilize the Quarantine feature. An attacker can send a carefully crafted email containing malicious JavaScript code. This issue has been patched in version 2023-11.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/20/2023
The CVE-2023-49077 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw discovered within the mailcow: dockerized groupware/email suite, specifically affecting the Quarantine User Interface component. This open source solution, deployed through docker containerization, serves as a comprehensive email management platform for organizations requiring robust mail server functionality. The vulnerability manifests in the quarantine feature where administrators can review and manage quarantined emails, creating a potential attack surface that could be exploited by malicious actors seeking to compromise administrative sessions. The flaw stems from insufficient input validation and output encoding within the quarantine UI, allowing attackers to inject malicious javascript code through specially crafted email messages that are subsequently displayed in the administrative interface. This vulnerability directly aligns with CWE-79, which categorizes cross-site scripting flaws as weaknesses in web applications where untrusted data is improperly sanitized before being rendered in web pages. The security implications are particularly severe for administrators who regularly interact with the quarantine interface, as any compromised session could provide attackers with elevated privileges to manipulate email policies, access quarantined messages, or potentially escalate to full system compromise. The vulnerability is further classified under ATT&CK technique T1566.001, which covers spearphishing attachments, as attackers can leverage this flaw to deliver malicious payloads through email content that appears legitimate within the quarantine context.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to craft a malicious email containing javascript payload that gets processed and displayed within the quarantine UI. When administrators view quarantined messages containing such payloads, the injected javascript code executes in the context of their browser session, potentially enabling session hijacking, credential theft, or arbitrary code execution. The impact extends beyond simple data theft as administrators may have elevated privileges within the mailcow system, making successful exploitation a significant threat to overall system security. The patched version 2023-11 addresses this vulnerability through enhanced input sanitization and proper output encoding mechanisms that prevent malicious javascript from being executed when quarantined emails are rendered in the administrative interface. Organizations utilizing mailcow: dockerized should prioritize immediate deployment of this patch, as the vulnerability exists in the quarantine feature that administrators actively use for email management and security monitoring. The fix implements proper content security policies and input validation controls that align with industry best practices for preventing XSS attacks. Security teams should also conduct thorough testing of their mailcow deployments to ensure the patch has been correctly applied and that no other components within the dockerized environment may be vulnerable to similar issues. The vulnerability underscores the importance of securing administrative interfaces in email systems, where privileged access can lead to widespread compromise, and highlights the need for continuous security assessments of open source components used in production environments. Organizations should implement monitoring for suspicious email patterns and maintain awareness of other potential XSS vulnerabilities in their email infrastructure, particularly in features that display user-generated content within administrative contexts.