IMAP Injection

IMAP Injection is a type of cyber attack that exploits vulnerabilities in web applications that interact with email servers using the Internet Message Access Protocol|Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP). IMAP is a standard email retrieval protocol used to fetch emails from a mail server.

The vulnerability occurs when a web application constructs IMAP commands using user-supplied input without properly sanitizing or validating it.

In an IMAP Injection attack, an attacker manipulates input fields of a web application to inject malicious IMAP commands. This is typically possible in applications that allow users to perform actions like searching their email inbox or organizing emails.

The vulnerability arises due to the improper handling of user input in the web application. If the application directly uses user input to construct IMAP commands without adequate validation, it can lead to command injection.

Potential Impacts:

• Unauthorized Access: An attacker could potentially access other users’ emails or manipulate email actions, depending on the nature of the injected commands and the permissions of the compromised system.
• Data Exposure or Loss: The attack could lead to unauthorized reading of emails, deletion of messages, or exposure of sensitive information.

An example of vulnerable code may be:

$command = "SEARCH FROM " . $_GET['user_input'];
imap_open($mailbox, $username, $password);
imap_search($mailbox, $command);

In this example, the application constructs an IMAP search command based on user input without validation, making it susceptible to injection.

IMAP Injection, though less common than other types of injection attacks like SQL Injection, represents a significant security risk in applications that interact with email servers. It underscores the importance of proper input handling and robust security measures in application development.