A Zimbra vulnerability has been identified by security researchers, highlighting a zero-day cross-site scripting (XSS) bug. Zimbra, a widely used collaboration product, has urged its customers to apply a software patch immediately to prevent potential compromises to user data. The company has emphasized the importance of taking immediate action to protect confidential and integrity user data. This is the second zero-day vulnerability related to Zimbra that has been reported this year.
The previous Zimbra vulnerability was exposed by researchers in February. They discovered a vulnerability in Zimbra’s email platform and provided evidence of a campaign that was actively exploiting it. Volexity’s cybersecurity experts, Steven Adair and Thomas Lancaster, revealed that a threat group known as TEMP_Heretic was responsible for exploiting the vulnerability through targeted spear-phishing attacks. The campaign was initially detected in December 2021 and is believed to have been orchestrated by Chinese cybercriminals.
The current Zimbra vulnerability affects the Collaboration Suite Version 8.8.15 and has the potential to jeopardize the confidentiality and integrity of customer data. It is classified as a zero-day bug, indicating that it was discovered by malicious actors before being publicly disclosed. The vulnerability exploits the trust between different websites by utilizing a cross-site scripting (XSS) technique. XSS attacks involve transferring untrusted scripts from one site to the trusted content of another site without direct compromise to the target site’s HTML files or JavaScript code.
Sophos, an advisory company, explains that XSS attacks allow the injection of rogue JavaScript code into web pages, potentially giving unauthorized access to user accounts on targeted sites. The attackers can then read and modify private data such as account details, login cookies, authentication tokens, and transaction history. To mitigate the Zimbra vulnerability, customers are advised to manually apply the fix, which involves a single-line edit to a specific data file in the product’s installation directory.
Zimbra has fixed the bug in its code, but the updated version has not yet been published. Due to the urgency of the situation, the company recommends that customers manually apply the fix to protect their data. The security alert issued by Zimbra emphasizes the importance of taking immediate action. While the process of applying the fix may not be overly complex for organizations managing their own Zimbra instances or outsourcing their administration, it is crucial to ensure comprehensive protection by applying the fix to all mailbox nodes.
In conclusion, the Zimbra vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality and integrity of user data. Zimbra has taken steps to address the issue and has urged its customers to apply the software patch immediately. By following the recommended fix, organizations can protect their data from potential exploitation. It is important for Zimbra users to stay vigilant and take proactive measures to safeguard their sensitive information.