Is CVE-2012-4581 actively exploited?

No active exploitation of CVE-2012-4581 has been confirmed so far. Continue monitoring, as exploit status can change.

Can CVE-2012-4581 be exploited remotely?

Yes. CVE-2012-4581 is exploitable remotely over the network (CVSS attack vector: Network).

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2012-4581?

CVE-2012-4581 has a CVSS score of 6.8 (MEDIUM).

HOME VULNERABILITIESCVE-2012-4581

MEDIUM

CVE-2012-4581

CWE-287Published: August 22, 2012· Updated: Jun 16, 2026

6.8

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

McAfee Email and Web Security (EWS) 5.x before 5.5 Patch 6 and 5.6 before Patch 3, and McAfee Email Gateway (MEG) 7.0 before Patch 1, does not disable the server-side session token upon the closing of the Management Console/Dashboard, which makes it easier for remote attackers to hijack sessions by capturing a session cookie and then modifying the response to a login attempt, related to a "Logout Failure" issue.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2012-4581 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

Exploitation requires some privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.

From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-287): Authentication bypass vulnerabilities allow attackers to access protected resources without valid credentials.