CVE-2023-51301 in Hotel Booking System
Summary
by MITRE • 02/19/2025
A lack of rate limiting in the "Login Section, Forgot Email" feature of PHPJabbers Hotel Booking System v4.0 allows attackers to send an excessive amount of reset requests for a legitimate user, leading to a possible Denial of Service (DoS) via a large amount of generated e-mail messages.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/07/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-51301 resides within the PHPJabbers Hotel Booking System version 4.0, specifically within the login section's forgot email functionality. This weakness represents a classic example of inadequate access control and resource management that can be exploited to disrupt legitimate service availability. The system fails to implement any form of rate limiting or request throttling mechanisms when processing password reset requests, creating an exploitable condition that allows malicious actors to overwhelm the system's email infrastructure.
The technical flaw manifests as a complete absence of rate limiting controls in the password recovery workflow, which operates under the assumption that all legitimate users will behave appropriately when requesting email resets. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability by repeatedly submitting password reset requests for targeted user accounts, potentially exhausting email server resources and causing legitimate users to be unable to receive their reset notifications. This creates a cascading effect where the system's email capacity becomes saturated, preventing both malicious and legitimate reset requests from being processed properly.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability enables attackers to execute a denial of service attack against the hotel booking system's user base, effectively preventing legitimate users from accessing their accounts when needed. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it operates at the application layer and can be executed with minimal technical expertise, making it accessible to a wide range of threat actors. The excessive email generation can overwhelm system resources, potentially leading to email server failures or performance degradation that affects the entire booking system's functionality.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-307, which addresses improper restriction of repeated actions, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for Denial of Service through resource exhaustion. Organizations using this system face significant operational risks including user account lockouts, service unavailability, and potential reputational damage from failed service delivery. The attack can be executed remotely without requiring authentication, making it particularly dangerous as it can be launched from anywhere on the internet.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing robust rate limiting mechanisms that monitor and control the frequency of password reset requests per user account or IP address. The system should enforce time-based restrictions between reset requests, implement account lockout mechanisms after excessive failed attempts, and establish monitoring alerts for unusual request patterns. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing CAPTCHA verification for reset requests, logging all reset activities for forensic analysis, and ensuring proper email server capacity planning to handle legitimate traffic while mitigating abuse. The implementation of these controls aligns with industry best practices for preventing credential stuffing and account takeover attacks while maintaining system availability for legitimate users.