IBM Lotus Domino SMTP server bounced message loop denial of service

lotus-domino-bounced-message-dos (7012) The risk level is classified as MediumMedium Risk

Description:

Lotus Domino is vulnerable to a denial of service attack. A vulnerability in the SMTP server could allow a remote attacker to send a mail message with the sender set as "&bounce@ [127.0.0.1]" and the recipient set as being at a remote domain. This could cause the message to bounce and enter into an infinite loop, which would cause the system to consume 100% of the CPU resources. In order to regain normal functionality from such an attack, the server must be restarted and the message must be removed from the queue.

Platforms Affected:

  • IBM, Lotus Domino 4.6.1
  • IBM, Lotus Domino 4.6.3
  • IBM, Lotus Domino 4.6.4
  • IBM, Lotus Domino 5.0.1
  • IBM, Lotus Domino 5.0.2
  • IBM, Lotus Domino 5.0.3
  • IBM, Lotus Domino 5.0.4
  • IBM, Lotus Domino 5.0.5
  • IBM, Lotus Domino 5.0.6
  • IBM, Lotus Domino 5.0.7
  • IBM, Lotus Domino 5.0.8

Remedy:

Install Domino 5.0.9 or a later version.

As a workaround, reference Lotus Technote 191746 to configure Domino to drop messages from users originating from 127.0.0.1. See References.

Consequences:

Denial of Service

References:

Reported:

Aug 20, 2001

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