CVE-2023-51323 in Shared Asset Booking System
Summary
by MITRE • 02/20/2025
A lack of rate limiting in the 'Forgot Password' feature of PHPJabbers Shared Asset Booking System v1.0 allows attackers to send an excessive amount of email 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-2023-51323 resides within the PHPJabbers Shared Asset Booking System version 1.0, specifically targeting the 'Forgot Password' functionality. This weakness represents a classic example of insufficient rate limiting mechanisms that can be exploited to overwhelm system resources and disrupt legitimate service availability. The affected system fails to implement any form of throttling or restriction on the number of password reset requests that can be generated for a single user account within a given time period, creating an exploitable vector for malicious actors seeking to compromise system integrity.
The technical flaw manifests as a complete absence of rate limiting controls within the password recovery workflow, allowing attackers to repeatedly trigger password reset emails for the same legitimate user account without any imposed restrictions. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-770, which describes the allocation of resources without proper limits or throttling mechanisms, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for resource exhaustion attacks. The system's inability to distinguish between legitimate user requests and malicious abuse creates a pathway for attackers to flood the email infrastructure with generated messages, potentially exhausting email server resources or triggering spam detection mechanisms that could affect legitimate communications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service, as it can be leveraged to disrupt user access to their accounts while simultaneously consuming system resources and potentially affecting email deliverability for the entire platform. Attackers can exploit this weakness to generate massive volumes of password reset emails for targeted users, potentially causing cascading failures in email delivery systems and creating a situation where legitimate users cannot receive their own password reset notifications. This creates a scenario where the service becomes unusable for both legitimate users and attackers, as the system becomes overwhelmed by the volume of generated messages and cannot properly handle legitimate requests.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-51323 should focus on implementing robust rate limiting mechanisms that restrict the number of password reset requests per user account within defined time windows, typically employing token-based systems or IP address tracking to prevent abuse. Organizations should implement exponential backoff mechanisms that increase delays between requests when multiple attempts are detected, and consider requiring additional authentication factors such as CAPTCHA verification or secondary email confirmation before processing reset requests. The solution should also incorporate monitoring and alerting capabilities to detect unusual patterns of reset requests that may indicate automated attack activity, aligning with security best practices outlined in NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001 frameworks for access control and resource management. Additionally, implementing account lockout mechanisms after a predetermined number of failed attempts can help prevent exploitation while maintaining legitimate user access to the system.