MIME Confusion Attack
MIME Confusion Attack is a type of security vulnerability that affects email systems. It happens when an attacker sends a special email that tricks the email client or server into processing it incorrectly. This can result in the attacker gaining unauthorized access to the victim’s email account, stealing sensitive information or spreading malware.
The attack works by taking advantage of the fact that email attachments can be encoded and decoded in different ways using a set of rules called MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions). In a MIME Confusion Attack, an attacker sends an email that combines two different MIME types (such as HTML and executable code) into a single attachment.
This confuses the email client or server into treating the attachment as both types. For example, the email client may display a harmless-looking HTML file to the user, while also executing the hidden executable code in the background.
To protect against MIME Confusion Attacks, email clients and servers need to be configured to correctly identify and process MIME types. This can involve strict filtering rules, validation checks and user education. It’s also important for users to be cautious when opening unexpected email attachments, especially if they come from unfamiliar senders.