Exim
CVE-2020-12783
HIGH
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, read limits
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
Exim through 4.93 has an out-of-bounds read in the SPA authenticator that could result in SPA/NTLM authentication bypass in auths/spa.c and auths/auth-spa.c. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Validate array indices and buffer lengths. Use memory-safe languages. Enable AddressSanitizer during testing.
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 Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125), which allows attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries. Exim through 4.93 has an out-of-bounds read in the SPA authenticator that could result in SPA/NTLM authentication bypass in auths/spa.c and auths/auth-spa.c. Affected products include: Exim, Fedoraproject Fedora, Debian Debian Linux, Canonical Ubuntu Linux. Version information: through 4.93.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
Exim through 4.93 has an out-of-bounds read in the SPA authenticator that could result in SPA/NTLM authentication bypass in auths/spa.c and auths/auth-spa.c.
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
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
The receive_msg function in receive.c in the SMTP daemon in Exim 4.88 and 4.89 allows remote attackers to execute arbitr
The receive_msg function in receive.c in the SMTP daemon in Exim 4.88 and 4.89 allows remote attackers to cause a denial
Exim before 4.86.2, when installed setuid root, allows local users to gain privileges via the perl_startup argument. Rat
Exim mail server version 4.98 before 4.98.1 contains a remote SQL injection vulnerability when SQLite hints and ETRN ser
A flaw was found in Exim versions 4.87 to 4.91 (inclusive). Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is re
Heap-based buffer overflow in the dkim_exim_query_dns_txt function in dkim.c in Exim 4.70 through 4.80, when DKIM suppor
Exim before 4.95 has a heap-based buffer overflow for the alias list in host_name_lookup in host.c when sender_host_name
Exim 4.92 through 4.92.2 allows remote code execution, a different vulnerability than CVE-2019-15846. Rated critical sev
An issue was discovered in the base64d function in the SMTP listener in Exim before 4.90.1. Rated critical severity (CVS
A UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following vulnerability in the packaging of exim in openSUSE Factory allows local attacke
Exim before 4.96 has an invalid free in pam_converse in auths/call_pam.c because store_free is not used after store_mall
Exim 4 before 4.94.2 has Execution with Unnecessary Privileges. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3). Public exploit code av
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB