CVE-2023-51339 in Event Ticketing System
Summary
by MITRE • 02/20/2025
A lack of rate limiting in the 'Forgot Password' feature of PHPJabbers Event Ticketing 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 • 03/08/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-51339 resides within the PHPJabbers Event Ticketing System version 1.0, specifically targeting the 'Forgot Password' functionality. This issue represents a critical security flaw that enables malicious actors to exploit the system's lack of rate limiting mechanisms, creating a pathway for denial of service attacks through email flooding. The vulnerability stems from the absence of any form of request throttling or frequency control within the password reset mechanism, allowing unlimited email generation attempts for a single user account.
This weakness directly maps to CWE-307, which addresses inadequate protection against excessive automated requests or brute force attacks. The technical implementation flaw occurs when the system processes password reset requests without enforcing any limitations on the number of attempts per user or time period. Attackers can systematically submit numerous requests to generate a high volume of email notifications for a legitimate user, potentially overwhelming the email infrastructure and rendering the service unavailable to legitimate users seeking password recovery. The vulnerability operates at the application layer, specifically within the authentication and user management components of the ticketing system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can be leveraged for broader attack vectors within the ATT&CK framework under the T1499 category for Network Denial of Service. The excessive email generation can lead to mailbox saturation, spam filtering system overload, and potential blacklisting of the sending server. Additionally, this vulnerability creates opportunities for spamming campaigns, as attackers can use the legitimate system to distribute unwanted emails to numerous recipients. The DoS condition affects not only the targeted user but can also impact the entire email delivery infrastructure, potentially causing cascading failures in related services that depend on email communication.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing robust rate limiting mechanisms that restrict the number of password reset requests per user account within a specified time window. The system should enforce a reasonable limit such as five requests per hour or ten requests per day, with automated temporary account lockouts after exceeding thresholds. Network-level protections should include IP-based rate limiting and connection tracking to identify and block suspicious patterns. The implementation should follow security best practices outlined in OWASP Top Ten and NIST guidelines for web application security. Additionally, the system should log and alert administrators about unusual request patterns to enable rapid response to potential abuse. Enhanced monitoring and alerting mechanisms are crucial to detect and respond to exploitation attempts, while also ensuring legitimate users are not inadvertently blocked during normal operations.