full-disclosure - Virii that can exploit email server?

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From: dbailey27 at ameritech.net (northern snowfall)
Subject: Virii that can exploit email server?

>
>
> Virus exploits Email Server A, infects other emails, causes world 
> domination, etc.
>
Yes, this is possible, though improbable. It would have to be
a two pronged virus. The first prong is, of course, exploiting
user clients that are vulnerable to virii propagation. The
second prong would be exploiting the server once the infected
user has sent off emails (by his own hand or not).

The server would have to be exploited via some header handling
or queue vulnerability for the specific mail server. Since the
server isn't necessarily going to be vulnerable, this tactic
will be extremely hit-and-miss.

Despite the improbability of this situation, it is a possible
attack vector. Since most attackers target mail server protocol
lexicon, they tend to forget about the queue mechanisms that
come later once the email has been stored on disk. If a
situation arises in which a queue mechanism can be overflowed
by data (possibly trusted) stored in mail queue files, the
situation becomes real.

This is most likely a situation to be desired by attackers whom
wish to target internal mail servers not accessible to them via the
internet. These internal mail servers would handle outgoing data
for internal users only, while other mail servers would route
incoming mail data.

Don

http://www.7f.no-ip.com/~north_