What is the CVSS score of CVE-2012-4581?

CVE-2012-4581 has a CVSS 2.0 base score of 6.8 (Medium). CVSS vector: AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.5%.

Email And Web Security CVE-2012-4581

MEDIUM

Improper Authentication (CWE-287)

2012-08-22 cve@mitre.org

Authentication Bypass Email Gateway Email And Web Security Mcafee

6.8

CVSS 2.0 · NVD

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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness	CWE CWE-287 OWASP Top 10:2025 A07:2025 - Authentication Failures ASVS 5.0 V6 - Authentication Authentication mechanism validation MITRE ATT&CK 2 techniques across 2 tactics: Defense Evasion, Initial Access The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. Sign in to read
Impact	CVSS score of 6.8 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, M complexity. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.49%.
Exploit ScenarioDerived	A remote attacker could bypass authentication mechanisms to gain unauthorized access by sending crafted requests to the affected application.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).

No patch listed yet 0.5% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

McAfee Email and Web Security (EWS) 5.x before 5.5 Patch 6 and 5.6 before Patch 3, and McAfee Email Gateway (MEG) 7.0 before Patch 1, does not disable the server-side session token upon the closing. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Implement multi-factor authentication, enforce strong password policies, use proven authentication frameworks.

Affects your stack

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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Improper Authentication (CWE-287), which allows attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms to gain unauthorized access. McAfee Email and Web Security (EWS) 5.x before 5.5 Patch 6 and 5.6 before Patch 3, and McAfee Email Gateway (MEG) 7.0 before Patch 1, does not disable the server-side session token upon the closing of the Management Console/Dashboard, which makes it easier for remote attackers to hijack sessions by capturing a session cookie and then modifying the response to a login attempt, related to a "Logout Failure" issue. Affected products include: Mcafee Email And Web Security, Mcafee Email Gateway. Version information: before 5.5.

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Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 6.8 MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Confidentiality

Integrity

Availability

DescriptionCVE.org

McAfee Email and Web Security (EWS) 5.x before 5.5 Patch 6 and 5.6 before Patch 3, and McAfee Email Gateway (MEG) 7.0 before Patch 1, does not disable the server-side session token upon the closing of the Management Console/Dashboard, which makes it easier for remote attackers to hijack sessions by capturing a session cookie and then modifying the response to a login attempt, related to a "Logout Failure" issue.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score

0.5%

Top 34% exploitable

Data Quality

3 sources

Confidence: Low

NVD

CVE.org

EPSS

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue

Severity MEDIUM

CISA KEV No

Public POC No

EPSS 0.5%

Patch available No

Active threat No

Deciding rule

MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)

What every action level means

Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.

Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived

Scheduled

Exploitation· derived

None

System Exposure· derived

Open

Automatable· derived

Human Impact· derived

Medium

Priority Score

Low Medium High Critical

KEV: 0

EPSS: 0

CVSS: +34

PoC: 0

Weaponized: 0

Threat intel: 0

Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication Bypass CRITICAL

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:a:mcafee:email_and_web_security:5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

cpe:2.3:a:mcafee:email_and_web_security:5.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

cpe:2.3:a:mcafee:email_and_web_security:5.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

cpe:2.3:a:mcafee:email_gateway:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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References

Advisories & patches

ADVISORY https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10020

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GitHub PoC

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