CVE-2020-25848
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 · uneditedHGiga MailSherlock contains weak authentication flaw that attackers grant privilege remotely with default password generation mechanism.
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 confidenceHGiga MailSherlock has a weak authentication flaw stemming from a default password generation mechanism that allows remote attackers to gain elevated privileges. The vulnerability exploits predictable or hardcoded default credentials in the authentication system.
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< 4.5-130< 4.5-143< 4.5-243< 4.5-114< 4.5-122< 4.5-130< 4.5-143< 4.5-243CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 MailSherlock product versionLocate the version information for the installed HGiga MailSherlock product (Msr45 or Ssr45 variant). This is typically accessible through the product's admin console, about page, or system information panel.Affected if The installed version is lower than 4.5-130 (for Antispam), 4.5-143 (for Audit), 4.5-243 (for Base), 4.5-114 (for User), or 4.5-122 (for Useradmin), depending on the specific module installed.
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Determine which MailSherlock modules are installedReview the installed modules or components of the HGiga MailSherlock deployment to identify which variant (Msr45 or Ssr45) and which subproducts (Antispam, Audit, Base, User, Useradmin) are present.Affected if Any of the Msr45 or Ssr45 variants with subproducts at versions below their respective thresholds are affected.
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Check for unchanged default credentialsReview the authentication configuration and user accounts to identify any accounts still using default factory-set passwords. Attempt to identify whether default administrative accounts exist with predictable passwords.Affected if Default administrative accounts or service accounts retain their original default passwords, indicating the weak password generation mechanism was never replaced.
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Inspect password policy configurationExamine the system's password policy settings to determine if cryptographically strong password generation is enforced and whether default passwords are required to be changed on first use.Affected if No strong password requirements are enforced, or the system allows default credentials to remain unchanged indefinitely.
A user is affected if they are running any HGiga MailSherlock Msr45 or Ssr45 variant with a version number below the thresholds (4.5-130, 4.5-143, 4.5-243, 4.5-114, or 4.5-122 depending on module) and have not changed default passwords from their predictable defaults.
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.
dbcve · scoped4.5-1144.5-1224.5-130
Immediately change all default passwords and replace the weak password generation mechanism with a cryptographically secure random password generator. Implement account lockout policies and enforce strong password requirements.
Msr45/Ssr45 Isherlock Antispam >= 4.5-130, Isherlock Audit >= 4.5-143, Isherlock Base >= 4.5-243, Isherlock User >= 4.5-114, Isherlock Useradmin >= 4.5-122
- 1. Identify which HGiga Isherlock components (Antispam, Audit, Base, User, Useradmin) are deployed in the environment
- 2. Stop the Isherlock services before applying updates
- 3. For Msr45/Ssr45 Isherlock Antispam: upgrade to version 4.5-130 or later
- 4. For Msr45/Ssr45 Isherlock Audit: upgrade to version 4.5-143 or later
- 5. For Msr45/Ssr45 Isherlock Base: upgrade to version 4.5-243 or later
- 6. For Msr45 Isherlock User: upgrade to version 4.5-114 or later
- 7. For Msr45 Isherlock Useradmin: upgrade to version 4.5-122 or later
- 8. After upgrade, change all default passwords to strong, unique passwords following organizational password policy
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-25848 — 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-2020-25848 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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- 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