Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate as high-privilege admin
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DeliverySubmit crafted domain in creation feature
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ExploitInject reserved Apache directives into httpd.conf
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ExecutionServer reboot triggers Apache startup failure
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ImpactWeb server and hosted virtual hosts denied service
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Input validation, allowlisting
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Requires high-privilege authenticated access to the SME Server web/management interface's domain creation function (PR:H) - this is the exact prerequisite, not generic network access. The attacker supplies input that is written as reserved Apache directives into httpd.conf; the resulting DoS is NOT immediate and only manifests after a subsequent server reboot (reflected by UI:P/R:A), which is the primary limiting factor. Additional limits: exploitation is confined to administrators of the affected product, impact is availability/integrity only (no data disclosure), and it affects koozali SME Server 11.0rc1-215. |
| Impact | The CVSS 4.0 base score of 6.9 (Medium) is driven mainly by the high availability impact (VA:H) and the automatable flag (AU:Y), but it is strongly tempered by the PR:H requirement: the attacker must already hold high-privilege (administrator) access to the SME Server management interface, so this is effectively a privileged-insider or post-compromise DoS rather than a remotely exploitable breach. The vector shows AV:N/AC:L (reachable over the network, low complexity) but also UI:P and R:A - exploitation only becomes effective after a server reboot, and recovery is described as automatic/attended, which further lowers urgency. The CVSS 4.0 exploit-maturity metric is E:P (Proof-of-Concept), indicating demonstrated exploitability but NOT confirmed active exploitation; no KEV listing and no EPSS score were provided in the input, so widespread opportunistic exploitation cannot be asserted. Signals are internally consistent rather than conflicting: a privilege-gated availability-only flaw in a niche product. Net assessment - this is a real but low-priority issue for most environments; prioritize only where untrusted or semi-trusted administrators have access to domain creation. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A malicious or compromised SME Server administrator uses the domain creation functionality to inject reserved Apache configuration directives, which are written into httpd.conf and corrupt it. The damage stays dormant until the next server reboot, at which point Apache fails to start and the web server plus all hosted virtual hosts go offline. The CVSS 4.0 E:P metric indicates a proof-of-concept for this technique exists. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 19, 2026
High-privilege authenticated administrators of Koozali SME Server 11.0rc1-215 can inject reserved Apache configuration directives through the domain creation function, corrupting httpd.conf so Apache fails to start after a subsequent reboot and taking down the web server and hosted virtual hosts. The issue is an input-validation failure (CWE-20) scored 6.9 Medium; exploitation requires administrator access to the management interface and a reboot to trigger the DoS, and no public exploit identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis; monitor Koozali SME Server advisories and the DigitalCanion research page (https://digitalcanion.com/en/security-research/#vendor=koozali) for a fixed build. Until a patch is available, restrict access to the SME Server management interface and domain creation function to trusted administrators, and validate or reject domain names/inputs containing Apache reserved directive tokens before they are written to httpd.conf; this may block some legitimate domain labels and requires administrative process changes. After any domain change, run an Apache configuration syntax check (for example, apachectl configtest or httpd -t) and keep a known-good httpd.conf backup so a corrupted configuration can be restored before reboot; be aware that syntax checking only detects some corruption and does not remove the underlying injection flaw. If domain creation cannot be adequately constrained, temporarily disable that feature for non-essential administrators, accepting that new virtual hosts cannot be provisioned through the UI until a patch is applied.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
SME Server is a Linux-based small-business server distribution whose web hosting is managed through Apache HTTP Server and generated httpd.conf configuration. The domain creation workflow accepts administrator-supplied domain data and writes it into Apache configuration without adequately neutralizing reserved directive syntax (CWE-20 improper input validation). An authenticated administrator can therefore place directives that alter or corrupt the generated configuration; the corruption may not be immediately visible, but Apache fails on the next service start or reboot, causing availability impact to the primary web server and all virtual hosts. CPE cpe:2.3:a:koozali:sme_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* identifies the Koozali SME Server product line; the assessed vector is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H, with no confidentiality impact and integrity/availability effects.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:P/VC:N/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:L/SA:H/E:P/S:P/AU:Y/R:A/RE:M/U:Amber
Admin-only access to the domain-creation feature gives PR:H; a reboot is needed to trigger the failure (UI:R); config corruption yields I:L and the resulting Apache outage yields A:H with no confidentiality impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (NCSC.ch).
CVSS VectorVendor: NCSC.ch
DescriptionCVE.org
Brian Mariani from DigitalCanion SA has discovered a vulnerability in the domain creation functionality of koozali's SME Server version 11.0rc1-215, allowing an attacker with high privileges to inject reserved Apache configuration directives, corrupting httpd.conf and preventing Apache from starting after a server reboot, resulting in a denial-of-service (DoS) condition affecting the web server and its hosted virtual hosts.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Code injection occurs when an application accepts user input and passes it directly into a language interpreter or evaluator without proper sanitization.
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