CVE-2012-4595
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedMcAfee Email and Web Security (EWS) 5.5 through Patch 6 and 5.6 through Patch 3, and McAfee Email Gateway (MEG) 7.0.0 and 7.0.1, allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and obtain an admin session ID via unspecified vectors.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceAuthentication bypass vulnerability in McAfee Email and Web Security (EWS) 5.5-5.6 and Email Gateway (MEG) 7.0.0-7.0.1 allows remote attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms and obtain a valid admin session ID through unspecified vectors.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 5.5= 5.6= 7.0.0= 7.0.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed McAfee email productLocate the product name in your system inventory, software list, or running services. Look for 'McAfee Email and Web Security' or 'McAfee Email Gateway' as the installed product name.Affected if The product is either McAfee Email and Web Security (EWS) or McAfee Email Gateway (MEG)
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Determine the installed version numberCheck the installed software version through the system package manager, installed programs list, or the product's web management interface (typically accessible on port 443 or 10443). Look for a version field in the admin console or about page.Affected if The version matches exactly 5.5 or 5.6 for EWS, or 7.0.0 or 7.0.1 for MEG
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Verify the web management interface is exposedAttempt to access the product web interface via HTTPS at the configured host and port (commonly https://<hostname>:10443 or similar). Confirm the interface responds to requests.Affected if The web management interface is accessible over the network
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Check for admin session configurationInspect the product configuration for admin session settings. Look for session timeout, session ID generation, or authentication-related configuration options in the admin console.Affected if Admin session management is enabled and accessible through the web interface
You are affected if McAfee Email and Web Security version 5.5 or 5.6, or McAfee Email Gateway version 7.0.0 or 7.0.1 is installed and the web management interface is accessible.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply vendor-supplied patches for the specific product versions (EWS Patch 7+ / Patch 4+ or later, MEG 7.0.2+) or upgrade to a supported product version if patches are unavailable for legacy releases.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-4595 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-4595 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data