HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2015-8542
HIGH

CVE-2015-8542

CWE-320Published: December 15, 2016· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

8.8
CVSS v3.1

Official Description

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.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2015-8542 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

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

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 8.8.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges Req.Low
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Vendors & Products

open-xchange1 product(s)
ox guard
Source: NVD CPE · 1 total CPE entries

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
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Official Patches & Advisories

All References (6)

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2015-8542
CVSS Score8.8 / 10
SeverityHIGH
WeaknessCWE-320
CISA KEVNo
Affected1 vendor(s)
PublishedDec 15, 2016

Related CVEs (CWE-320)

Recommended Actions

  • Apply vendor patches immediately
  • Monitor CVE-2015-8542 in threat intel feeds
  • Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWATCH.COM. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.