McAfee WebShield SMTP up to 4.5 MR2 Bounce Error Message format string

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.
CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.6$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in McAfee WebShield SMTP up to 4.5 MR2. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component Bounce Error Message Handler. The manipulation results in format string. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2006-0559. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in McAfee WebShield SMTP up to 4.5 MR2. Affected is an unknown part of the component Bounce Error Message Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a format string vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-134. The product uses a function that accepts a format string as an argument, but the format string originates from an external source. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

Format string vulnerability in the SMTP server for McAfee WebShield 4.5 MR2 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via format strings in the domain name portion of a destination address, which are not properly handled when a bounce message is constructed.

The bug was discovered 04/03/2006. The weakness was shared 04/04/2006 by Ollie Whitehouse with Symantec (Website). The advisory is shared for download at secunia.com. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2006-0559 since 02/06/2006. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploitation doesn't require any form of authentication. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available.

It is declared as proof-of-concept. The vulnerability was handled as a non-public zero-day exploit for at least 1 days. During that time the estimated underground price was around $25k-$100k. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 74213 (McAfee Webshield SMTP Remote Format String Vulnerability).

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability. Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at mcafee.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version. Furthermore it is possible to detect and prevent this kind of attack with TippingPoint and the filter 4009.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (25621), SecurityFocus (BID 16742†), OSVDB (24366†), Secunia (SA19491†) and SecurityTracker (ID 1015861†). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.6

VulDB Base Score: 7.3
VulDB Temp Score: 6.6
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Format string
CWE: CWE-134 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Proof-of-Concept

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Patch: mcafee.com
TippingPoint: 🔍

McAfee IPS: 🔍
McAfee IPS Version: 🔍

PaloAlto IPS: 🔍
Fortigate IPS: 🔍

Timelineinfo

02/06/2006 🔍
04/03/2006 +56 days 🔍
04/03/2006 +0 days 🔍
04/04/2006 +1 days 🔍
04/04/2006 +0 days 🔍
04/04/2006 +0 days 🔍
04/04/2006 +0 days 🔍
04/04/2006 +0 days 🔍
04/04/2006 +0 days 🔍
04/04/2006 +0 days 🔍
06/22/2025 +7019 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: mcafee.com

Advisory: secunia.com⛔
Researcher: Ollie Whitehouse
Organization: Symantec
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2006-0559 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2006-0559
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-2124
X-Force: 25621 - McAfee WebShield SMTP server format string, High Risk
SecurityFocus: 16742 - McAfee Webshield SMTP Remote Format String Vulnerability
Secunia: 19491 - McAfee WebShield SMTP Format String Vulnerability, Highly Critical
OSVDB: 24366 - McAfee WebShield SMTP Bounce Message Format String
SecurityTracker: 1015861
Vulnerability Center: 10916 - McAfee WebShield SMTP Format String Vulnerability, High
Vupen: ADV-2006-1219

Entryinfo

Created: 04/04/2006 13:27
Updated: 06/22/2025 23:18
Changes: 04/04/2006 13:27 (89), 06/16/2019 09:34 (1), 06/22/2025 23:18 (18)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Are you interested in using VulDB?

Download the whitepaper to learn more about our service!