CVE-2022-37042 Synacor CVE debrief

Who should care

Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) administrators, security operations teams, vulnerability management teams, incident responders, and MSPs or IT providers that support ZCS deployments—especially any internet-facing instances.

Technical summary

The supplied official records identify CVE-2022-37042 as an authentication bypass issue in Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS). Because CISA lists it in KEV and notes known ransomware campaign use, the practical risk is unauthorized access to ZCS-protected functionality if affected systems remain unpatched. The KEV entry instructs defenders to apply updates per vendor instructions.

Defensive priority

critical

Recommended defensive actions

• Apply the vendor-recommended updates or mitigations for Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) as soon as possible.
• Prioritize any internet-facing ZCS systems and any systems handling sensitive mail or administrative access.
• Check asset inventories to confirm all ZCS instances, including test, standby, and delegated-managed environments.
• Review authentication, admin, and mailbox access logs for unexpected access patterns around the exposure window.
• If patching is delayed, follow any vendor-issued interim guidance and reduce exposure of ZCS services where feasible.
• Coordinate with incident response if you find signs of unauthorized access, especially given CISA’s known ransomware campaign use flag.

Evidence notes

CISA’s KEV feed identifies the issue as a Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) authentication bypass vulnerability, adds it on 2022-08-11, and sets a due date of 2022-09-01. The KEV metadata also says known ransomware campaign use is 'Known' and the required action is to apply updates per vendor instructions. The supplied official links include the CVE record, NVD detail, CISA KEV catalog, and the underlying KEV JSON feed.

Official resources