MitM attack in Mutt

1) Code injection

EUVDB-ID: #VU29425

Risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 2.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-14954

CWE-ID: CWE-74 - Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a spoofing attack.

The vulnerability exists due to insecure implementation of the STARTTLS buffering for IMAP, SMTP, and POP3 protocols. A remote attacker can inject arbitrary data into the TLS context during MitM attack, e.g. perform a response injection attack.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Mutt: 1.14 - 1.14.3

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:a:mutt_org:mutt:1.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:mutt_org:mutt:1.14.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:mutt_org:mutt:1.14.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

https://lists.mutt.org/pipermail/mutt-announce/Week-of-Mon-20200615/000023.html
https://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-06/msg00064.html
https://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-06/msg00070.html
https://www.mutt.org/
https://github.com/neomutt/neomutt/commit/fb013ec666759cb8a9e294347c7b4c1f597639cc
https://github.com/neomutt/neomutt/releases/tag/20200619
https://gitlab.com/muttmua/mutt/-/commit/c547433cdf2e79191b15c6932c57f1472bfb5ff4
https://gitlab.com/muttmua/mutt/-/issues/248
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4707
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4708

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

How the attacker can exploit this vulnerability?

The attacker would have to trick the victim to visit a specially crafted website or open a file.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.