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8.8
CVE-2015-8542: Open-Xchange Guard allows private key theft via ID guessing
CVE-2015-8542 · published 9 years ago
Summary
The Open-Xchange Guard email security product lets anyone download another user's encrypted email key if they can guess the user’s numeric IDs and use a common password. This means an attacker could obtain private keys and read protected messages. Update to the latest version or restrict access to the key‑download API to stop the risk.
What to do
The CVE record does not list a fixed version. Check the vendor's site or the advisory links below - a fix may already be released.
Affected software
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|
| open-xchange | ox_guard |
<= 2.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:open-xchange:ox_guard:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
Original advisory text
An issue was discovered in Open-Xchange Guard before 2.2.0-rev8. The "getprivkeybyid" API call is used to download a PGP Private Key for a specific user after providing authentication credentials. ...
An issue was discovered in Open-Xchange Guard before 2.2.0-rev8. The "getprivkeybyid" API call is used to download a PGP Private Key for a specific user after providing authentication credentials. Clients provide the "id" and "cid" parameter to specify the current user by its user- and context-ID. The "auth" parameter contains a hashed password string which gets created by the client by asking the user to enter his or her OX Guard password. This parameter is used as single point of authentication when accessing PGP Private Keys. In case a user has set the same password as another user, it is possible to download another user's PGP Private Key by iterating the "id" and "cid" parameters. This kind of attack would also be able by brute-forcing login credentials, but since the "id" and "cid" parameters are sequential they are much easier to predict than a user's login name. At the same time, there are some obvious insecure standard passwords that are widely used. A attacker could send the hashed representation of typically weak passwords and randomly fetch Private Key of matching accounts. The attack can be executed by both internal users and "guests" which use the external mail reader.
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/136069/Open-Xchange-Guard-2.2.0-2.0-Private... Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
- http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/537678/100/0/threaded
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1035174 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
Internet-facing
14 days
Internal
At next upgrade
- Not known to be exploited
- Needs hands-on effort to exploit (estimated)
- Gives an attacker full control (estimated)
Type
CWE-320Key Management Errors
Timeline
Published15 Dec 2016
Updated29 Oct 2026
First seen29 Sep 2026
Sources
CVE-2015-8542 · NVD
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