CVE-2019-25476: Outlook Password Recovery DoS Vulnerability

CVE-2019-25476 Overview

CVE-2019-25476 is a buffer overflow vulnerability affecting Outlook Password Recovery version 2.10. This local vulnerability allows attackers to crash the application by supplying an oversized payload through the User Name and Registration Code input fields. The vulnerability is classified as CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), indicating improper memory handling when processing user-supplied data.

Critical Impact

Local attackers can trigger a denial of service condition by crafting a malicious text file containing 6000 bytes of data and pasting it into the registration fields, causing the application to crash.

Affected Products

• Outlook Password Recovery version 2.10

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-03-11 - CVE-2019-25476 published to NVD
• 2026-03-12 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2019-25476

Vulnerability Analysis

This buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Outlook Password Recovery 2.10 due to insufficient bounds checking when processing input data in the User Name and Registration Code fields. The application fails to properly validate the length of user-supplied data before copying it into a fixed-size memory buffer, leading to memory corruption when oversized payloads are provided.

The vulnerability requires local access to exploit and does not require user interaction or special privileges. While the attack complexity is low, the impact is limited to availability - causing application crashes without compromising data confidentiality or integrity. This represents a classic stack-based buffer overflow pattern common in legacy Windows applications.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper input validation (CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write). The application allocates a fixed-size buffer for the registration input fields but does not enforce length restrictions on user input. When an attacker provides approximately 6000 bytes of data, the application writes beyond the allocated buffer boundaries, corrupting adjacent memory and causing the application to crash.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is local, requiring an attacker to have access to a system where Outlook Password Recovery 2.10 is installed. The exploitation method involves:

1. Creating a text file containing approximately 6000 bytes of arbitrary data
2. Launching the Outlook Password Recovery application
3. Pasting the oversized payload into either the User Name or Registration Code field
4. The application crashes due to memory corruption from the buffer overflow

Technical details and proof-of-concept information are available through Exploit-DB #47309 and the VulnCheck Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2019-25476

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected crashes of the Outlook Password Recovery application with memory access violation errors
• Application crash logs indicating buffer overflow or stack corruption in the registration module
• Presence of large text files (6000+ bytes) in temporary directories or clipboard history

Detection Strategies

• Monitor Windows Event Logs for application crash events related to Outlook Password Recovery 2.10
• Implement endpoint detection rules that alert on applications crashing with memory access violations
• Deploy application control policies to restrict execution of vulnerable software versions

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable crash dump collection for forensic analysis of potential exploitation attempts
• Configure endpoint protection to monitor process behavior for signs of memory corruption
• Implement software inventory tracking to identify systems running the vulnerable version 2.10

How to Mitigate CVE-2019-25476

Immediate Actions Required

• Identify and inventory all systems running Outlook Password Recovery version 2.10
• Consider removing or disabling the vulnerable application if it is not business-critical
• Restrict local access to systems where the vulnerable software is installed
• Apply application whitelisting policies to prevent unauthorized software execution

Patch Information

No vendor patch information is currently available for this vulnerability. The software vendor has not released an official security update to address the buffer overflow. Users should consider migrating to alternative password recovery tools that have active security maintenance and support.

Workarounds

• Uninstall Outlook Password Recovery 2.10 and migrate to a supported alternative solution
• Implement strict access controls to limit which users can interact with the application
• Use application sandboxing to isolate the vulnerable software from critical system resources
• Deploy endpoint protection with memory protection capabilities to detect and prevent exploitation attempts

# Identify systems with vulnerable software installed
wmic product where "name like '%Outlook Password Recovery%'" get name,version

# Remove the vulnerable application
wmic product where "name='Outlook Password Recovery'" call uninstall /nointeractive