Man-in-the-middle attack in Microsoft Exchange Server - CVE-2018-8581
Published: November 13, 2018 / Updated: March 8, 2022
Vulnerability identifier: #VU15841
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4.0: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:A/U:Clear
CVE-ID: CVE-2018-8581
CWE-ID: CWE-300
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
The vulnerability is being exploited in the wild
Vendor: Microsoft
Affected software:
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server
Detailed vulnerability description
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to gain elevated privileges on the target system.
The vulnerability exists due to use of a registry key exists called HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlLsa and lack of loopback check. A remote unauthenticated attacker can conduct a man-in-the-middle attack to forward an authentication request to a Microsoft Exchange Server, thereby allowing impersonation of another Exchange user and gain SYSTEM privileges.
How to mitigate CVE-2018-8581
Install updates from vendor's website.