CVE-2020-12618
eM Client before 7.2.33412.0 automatically imported S/MIME certificates and thereby silently...
eM Client before 7.2.33412.0 automatically imported S/MIME certificates and thereby silently replaced existing ones. This allowed a man-in-the-middle attacker to obtain an email-validated S/MIME certificate from a trusted CA and replace the public key of the entity to be impersonated. This enabled the attacker to decipher further communication. The entire attack could be accomplished by sending a single email.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
eM Client before 7.2.33412.0 automatically imported S/MIME certificates and thereby silently replaced existing ones. This allowed a man-in-the-middle attacker to obtain an email-validated S/MIME certificate from a trusted CA and replace the public key of the entity to be impersonated. This enabled the attacker to decipher further communication. The entire attack could be accomplished by sending a single email.
- Record
CVE-2020-12618- CVSS 3.1
- 4.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 5.8 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
eM Client before 7.2.33412.0 automatically imported S/MIME certificates and thereby silently replaced existing ones. This allowed a man-in-the-middle attacker to obtain an email-validated S/MIME certificate from a trusted CA and replace the public key of the entity to be impersonated. This enabled the attacker to decipher further communication. The entire attack could be accomplished by sending a single email.
- Record
CVE-2020-12618- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-4919 No score
eM Client before 7.2.33412.0 automatically imported S/MIME certificates and thereby silently replaced existing ones. This allowed a man-in-the-middle attacker to obtain an email-validated S/MIME certificate from a trusted CA and replace the public key of the entity to be impersonated. This enabled the attacker to decipher further communication. The entire attack could be accomplished by sending a single email.
- Record
EUVD-2020-4919- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-6qp5-c345-g9c7 No score
eM Client before 7.2.33412.0 automatically imported S/MIME certificates and thereby silently...
eM Client before 7.2.33412.0 automatically imported S/MIME certificates and thereby silently replaced existing ones. This allowed a man-in-the-middle attacker to obtain an email-validated S/MIME certificate from a trusted CA and replace the public key of the entity to be impersonated. This enabled the attacker to decipher further communication. The entire attack could be accomplished by sending a single email.
- Record
GHSA-6qp5-c345-g9c7- Weakness
- CWE-295
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-12618 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.8) in Emclient Em Client, published August 20, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.35%, the 28th percentile. No source names a fixed version.