Mercury_Mail_IMAP_Command_Buffer_Overflow_attack

A vulnerability exists in the way the IMAP service in Mercury Mail Transport System parses IMAP commands. Specially crafted data sent to the IMAP service can trigger a buffer overflow. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to create a denial of service condition or execute arbitrary code. In a simple attack, the attacker can crash the IMAP service of the Mercury Mail Transport System suite. This will also terminate all active IMAP connections. Since the server does not execute as a Windows service, there is no automatic restart. In a sophisticated attack, an attacker can inject code into the vulnerable target. The behaviour of the target is dependent on the malicious code. Note that any code executed by the attacker runs with the privileges of the IMAP server. These privileges depend upon the account that invokes Mercury Mail Transport System.