CVE-2021-41083
📋 TL;DR
This is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Dada Mail that allows attackers to perform unauthorized actions as authenticated users. When a logged-in administrator visits a malicious webpage, attackers can take full control of mailing lists, change passwords, and lock out legitimate owners. All Dada Mail versions v11.15.1 and below are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Dada Mail
📦 What is this software?
Dada Mail by Dadamailproject
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete takeover of mailing list management system, including changing root passwords, locking out legitimate administrators, and gaining full control over all mailing lists and user data.
Likely Case
Unauthorized changes to mailing list configurations, password resets, and potential data exposure or manipulation of mailing list operations.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper CSRF protections, session management, and user awareness training in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires social engineering to get authenticated users to visit malicious pages. No known exploits in the wild as of advisory publication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 11.16.0
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/justingit/dada-mail/security/advisories/GHSA-344m-p829-2r38
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Backup your Dada Mail installation and database. 2. Download version 11.16.0 from the official repository. 3. Replace existing files with new version. 4. Verify installation works correctly.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement CSRF Tokens Manually
allAdd CSRF protection tokens to all state-changing forms and validate them server-side
Session Timeout Reduction
allReduce session timeout duration to limit exposure window for authenticated sessions
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict SameSite cookie policies and Content Security Policy headers
- Require re-authentication for sensitive actions like password changes
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Dada Mail version in administration panel or by examining the installation files for version markersCheck Version:
Check the $VERSION variable in DadaMail.pm or view version in admin interfaceVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 11.16.0 or higher in administration panel and test CSRF protection on sensitive forms📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed authentication attempts followed by successful login from unusual IP
- Unexpected password change or configuration modification events
- Administrative actions from non-admin user sessions
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to admin endpoints without proper referrer headers
- Requests containing administrative actions from unexpected sources
SIEM Query:
source="dada_mail_logs" AND (event="password_change" OR event="admin_action") AND user_agent CONTAINS suspicious_pattern🔗 References
- https://github.com/justingit/dada-mail/commit/d4d3d86d08c816b4da75a5ef45abc12188772459
- https://github.com/justingit/dada-mail/security/advisories/GHSA-344m-p829-2r38
- https://github.com/justingit/dada-mail/commit/d4d3d86d08c816b4da75a5ef45abc12188772459
- https://github.com/justingit/dada-mail/security/advisories/GHSA-344m-p829-2r38
