CVE-2017-7229
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Vaultive O365 frontends before version 4.5.21 improperly modifies PGP/MIME encrypted email Content-Type headers from 'multipart/encrypted' to 'text/plain', causing mail clients to fail decryption. This creates a denial of service for encrypted email and often leads to requests for unencrypted resends, risking information disclosure. Organizations using affected Vaultive O365 frontends for email encryption are impacted.
💻 Affected Systems
- Vaultive O365 Frontend
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete failure of encrypted email communication through the system, forcing users to send sensitive information unencrypted, leading to potential data breaches.
Likely Case
Encrypted emails become unreadable, requiring manual intervention and resending in clear text, exposing sensitive communications.
If Mitigated
Limited to encrypted email delivery failures with proper monitoring and alternative secure communication channels available.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires sending specially crafted PGP/MIME emails through the vulnerable system, which is straightforward for attackers with email access.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 4.5.21
Vendor Advisory: https://gist.github.com/dkg/a1998c861bf2430e0d01d586905b11cb
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download Vaultive O365 version 4.5.21 or later from vendor. 2. Backup current configuration. 3. Apply the update following vendor instructions. 4. Restart the Vaultive frontend service. 5. Verify functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable PGP/MIME Processing
allTemporarily disable PGP/MIME encrypted email processing in Vaultive configuration
# Consult Vaultive documentation for specific configuration changes to disable PGP/MIME handling
Email Filtering
allImplement email gateway filtering to block or quarantine PGP/MIME encrypted messages before they reach Vaultive
# Configure email security gateway to filter messages with Content-Type: multipart/encrypted
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network segmentation to isolate Vaultive frontend from untrusted email sources
- Deploy alternative encrypted email solutions and instruct users to avoid PGP/MIME through Vaultive
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Vaultive O365 frontend version. If version is below 4.5.21 and processes PGP/MIME emails, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
# Check Vaultive version via admin interface or consult system documentationVerify Fix Applied:
Send a test PGP/MIME encrypted email through the system and verify it maintains proper Content-Type headers and can be decrypted by recipients.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Failed email decryption attempts
- Content-Type modification logs in Vaultive
- Increased clear-text email resend requests
Network Indicators:
- PGP/MIME emails with modified Content-Type headers
- Encrypted email delivery failures
SIEM Query:
source="vaultive" AND ("Content-Type modification" OR "PGP decryption failure")