Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Primary rating from Vendor (f5).
CVSS VectorVendor: f5
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Lifecycle Timeline
4DescriptionCVE.org
When the ngx_mail_auth_http_module module is enabled on NGINX Plus or NGINX Open Source, undisclosed requests can cause worker processes to terminate. This issue may occur when (1) CRAM-MD5 or APOP authentication is enabled, and (2) the authentication server permits retry by returning the Auth-Wait response header. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.
AnalysisAI
NGINX worker process crashes via null pointer dereference in the mail authentication module when CRAM-MD5 or APOP authentication is configured with retry-enabled backend servers. This denial of service vulnerability affects NGINX Plus and NGINX Open Source with no patch currently available, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to terminate worker processes and degrade service availability.
Technical ContextAI
This vulnerability affects the ngx_mail_auth_http_module in NGINX, which provides HTTP-based authentication for mail proxy functionality. The affected products are NGINX Open Source (cpe:2.3:a:f5:nginx_open_source) and NGINX Plus (cpe:2.3:a:f5:nginx_plus). The root cause is CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference), which occurs when specially crafted requests are processed during CRAM-MD5 or APOP authentication flows when the authentication backend returns an Auth-Wait header instructing the proxy to retry authentication. This architectural flaw in pointer handling during the authentication retry mechanism allows the worker process to access invalid memory locations, leading to process termination.
RemediationAI
Consult the F5 security advisory at https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000160383 for specific patch versions and upgrade instructions for both NGINX Open Source and NGINX Plus. Organizations should prioritize upgrading to patched versions provided by F5 that address the null pointer dereference in the mail authentication module. As an immediate mitigation for environments that cannot patch immediately, administrators should consider disabling CRAM-MD5 and APOP authentication methods in favor of alternative authentication mechanisms, or disable the Auth-Wait retry functionality on the authentication backend if business requirements permit. For deployments where the mail proxy functionality is not required, disabling the ngx_mail_auth_http_module entirely eliminates exposure. Network-level controls such as restricting access to mail proxy ports to trusted IP ranges can reduce attack surface but do not eliminate the vulnerability for legitimate users.
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Same weakness CWE-476 – NULL Pointer Dereference
View allSame technique Denial Of Service
View allVendor StatusVendor
SUSE
Severity: High| Product | Status |
|---|---|
| SUSE Liberty Linux 8 | Fixed |
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP7 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.1 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.1 | Fixed |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP4 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP5 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP6 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Proxy LTS 4.3 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.3 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server LTS 4.3 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.3 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Server LTS 4.3 | Fixed |
| SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0 | Fixed |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 6 | Fixed |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 7 | Fixed |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-ESPOS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-LTSS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-ESPOS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-LTSS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-ESPOS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-LTSS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP6 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP1 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP2 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP3 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP2 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP3 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-BCL | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-BCL | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-BCL | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP2 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP3 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | Fixed |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.0 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.1 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.2 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.0 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.1 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.2 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.0 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.1 | Fixed |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.2 | Fixed |
| openSUSE Leap 15.3 | Fixed |
| openSUSE Leap 15.4 | Fixed |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | Fixed |
| private-registry/harbor-nginx private-registry/harbor-portal suse/nginx suse/rmt-nginx | Fixed |
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EUVD-2026-14880