CVE-2026-45185
Exim before 4.99.3, in certain GnuTLS configurations, has a remotely reachable use-after-free in...
Exim before 4.99.3, in certain GnuTLS configurations, has a remotely reachable use-after-free in the BDAT body parsing path. It is triggered when a client sends a TLS close_notify mid-body during a CHUNKING transfer, followed by a final cleartext byte on the same TCP connection. This can lead to heap corruption. An unauthenticated network attacker exploiting this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
9.8
Exim before 4.99.3, in certain GnuTLS configurations, has a remotely reachable use-after-free in the BDAT body parsing path. It is triggered when a client sends a TLS close_notify mid-body during a CHUNKING transfer, followed by a final cleartext byte on the same TCP connection. This can lead to heap corruption. An unauthenticated network attacker exploiting this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code.
- Record
CVE-2026-45185- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-416
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-29824
9.8
Exim before 4.99.3, in certain GnuTLS configurations, has a remotely reachable use-after-free in the BDAT body parsing path. It is triggered when a client sends a TLS close_notify mid-body during a CHUNKING transfer, followed by a final cleartext byte on the same TCP connection. This can lead to heap corruption. An unauthenticated network attacker exploiting this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code.
- Record
EUVD-2026-29824- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-fhg4-whcv-f8v4
9.8
Exim before 4.99.3, in certain GnuTLS configurations, has a remotely reachable use-after-free in...
Exim before 4.99.3, in certain GnuTLS configurations, has a remotely reachable use-after-free in the BDAT body parsing path. It is triggered when a client sends a TLS close_notify mid-body during a CHUNKING transfer, followed by a final cleartext byte on the same TCP connection. This can lead to heap corruption. An unauthenticated network attacker exploiting this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code.
- Record
GHSA-fhg4-whcv-f8v4- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-416
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
9.8
Exim before 4.99.3, in certain GnuTLS configurations, has a remotely reachable use-after-free in the BDAT body parsing path. It is triggered when a client sends a TLS close_notify mid-body during a CHUNKING transfer, followed by a final cleartext byte on the same TCP connection. This can lead to heap corruption. An unauthenticated network attacker exploiting this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code.
- Record
CVE-2026-45185- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-416
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2026-45185
9.8
Exim before 4.99.3, in certain GnuTLS configurations, has a remotely reachable use-after-free in the BDAT body parsing path. It is triggered when a client sends a TLS close_notify mid-body during a CHUNKING transfer, followed by a final cleartext byte on the same TCP connection. This can lead to heap corruption. An unauthenticated network attacker exploiting this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-45185- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2026-45185
9.8
Exim before 4.99.3, in certain GnuTLS configurations, has a remotely reachable use-after-free in the BDAT body parsing path. It is triggered when a client sends a TLS close_notify mid-body during a CHUNKING transfer, followed by a final cleartext byte on the same TCP connection. This can lead to heap corruption. An unauthenticated network attacker exploiting this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-45185- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVCLSA-2026-1781269872 No score
Fix CVE(s): CVE-2026-45185
- SECURITY UPDATE: TLS close_notify use-after-free during active BDAT/CHUNKING
transfer that can lead to unauthenticated remote code execution
- debian/patches/CVE-2026-45185.patch: introduce tls_close_notify() that pops the BDAT receive layer, reinstalls plaintext receive callbacks via a new smtp_rcv_cleartext() helper, then re-pushes the BDAT layer before closing the TLS channel; switch the GnuTLS and OpenSSL receive paths from a bare tls_close() to tls_close_notify()
- CVE-2026-45185
- Record
CLSA-2026-1781269872- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUSN-8382-1 No score
exim4 vulnerabilities
Timo Longin discovered that Exim incorrectly handled certain SMTP messages in PIPELINING/CHUNKING configurations. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to perform SMTP smuggling. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. (CVE-2023-51766)
It was discovered that Exim incorrectly handled certain malformed JSON data in headers. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to crash Exim, resulting in a denial of service, or execute arbitrary code. This issue only affected Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. (CVE-2026-40685)
It was discovered that Exim incorrectly handled certain malformed UTF-8 headers. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to obtain sensitive information. This issue only affected Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. (CVE-2026-40686)
It was discovered that Exim incorrectly handled certain SPA resources. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to crash Exim, resulting in a denial of service, or obtain sensitive information. This issue only affected Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. (CVE-2026-40687)
It was discovered that Exim incorrectly handled certain CHUNKING transfers in some GnuTLS configurations. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to crash Exim, resulting in a denial of service, or execute arbitrary code. This issue only affected Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. (CVE-2026-45185)
Warisjeet Singh discovered that Exim incorrectly handled certain proxy connections in builds with proxy support enabled. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to obtain sensitive information. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. (CVE-2026-48840)
- Record
USN-8382-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
exim4TuxCare:Ubuntu:20.04 |
before 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 | 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 |
exim4-baseTuxCare:Ubuntu:20.04 |
before 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 | 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 |
exim4-configTuxCare:Ubuntu:20.04 |
before 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 | 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 |
exim4-daemon-heavyTuxCare:Ubuntu:20.04 |
before 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 | 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 |
exim4-daemon-lightTuxCare:Ubuntu:20.04 |
before 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 | 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 |
exim4-devTuxCare:Ubuntu:20.04 |
before 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 | 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 |
eximon4TuxCare:Ubuntu:20.04 |
before 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 | 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2 |
exim4Debian:12 |
before 4.96-15+deb12u9, plus listed versions 4.96-154.96-15+deb12u14.96-15+deb12u24.96-15+deb12u34.96-15+deb12u4 Show 4 moreShow less4.96-15+deb12u54.96-15+deb12u64.96-15+deb12u74.96-15+deb12u8 |
4.96-15+deb12u9 |
exim4Debian:13 |
before 4.98.2-1+deb13u2, plus listed versions 4.98.2-14.98.2-1+deb13u1 |
4.98.2-1+deb13u2 |
exim4Debian:14 |
before 4.99.2-2, plus listed versions 4.98.2-14.98.2-1+hurd.14.98.2-24.99-14.99-2 Show 22 moreShow less4.99-34.99-44.99-4~bpo13+14.99-54.99-64.99-6~bpo13+14.99-74.99-7~bpo13+14.99.1-14.99.1-1~bpo13+14.99.1-24.99.1-34.99.1-44.99.1-54.99.1-64.99.2-14.99.2-1~bpo13+14.99.2-2~bpo13+14.99~RC1-14.99~RC2-14.99~RC3-14.99~RC3-2 |
4.99.2-2 |
Show 11 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
exim4Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.80-7ubuntu34.80-7ubuntu44.80-9ubuntu14.80-9ubuntu24.82-3ubuntu1 Show 13 moreShow less4.82-3ubuntu24.82-3ubuntu2.14.82-3ubuntu2.24.82-3ubuntu2.34.82-3ubuntu2.44.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm14.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm24.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm34.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm44.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm64.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm74.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm84.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm9 |
None known |
exim4Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.86-3ubuntu14.86-7ubuntu14.86-7ubuntu24.86-7ubuntu34.86.2-2ubuntu1 Show 15 moreShow less4.86.2-2ubuntu24.86.2-2ubuntu2.14.86.2-2ubuntu2.24.86.2-2ubuntu2.34.86.2-2ubuntu2.44.86.2-2ubuntu2.54.86.2-2ubuntu2.64.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm14.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm24.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm44.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm54.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm64.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm74.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm84.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm9 |
None known |
exim4Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.89-5ubuntu14.89-9ubuntu14.89-9ubuntu24.89-9ubuntu34.89-9ubuntu4 Show 15 moreShow less4.90.1-1ubuntu14.90.1-1ubuntu1.14.90.1-1ubuntu1.24.90.1-1ubuntu1.34.90.1-1ubuntu1.44.90.1-1ubuntu1.54.90.1-1ubuntu1.84.90.1-1ubuntu1.94.90.1-1ubuntu1.104.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm14.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm24.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm34.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm44.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm54.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm6 |
None known |
exim4Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS |
before 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+esm1, plus listed versions 4.92.1-1ubuntu34.92.1-1ubuntu44.93~RC2-1ubuntu14.93-9ubuntu14.93-11ubuntu1 Show 11 moreShow less4.93-12ubuntu14.93-13ubuntu14.93-13ubuntu1.14.93-13ubuntu1.54.93-13ubuntu1.64.93-13ubuntu1.74.93-13ubuntu1.84.93-13ubuntu1.94.93-13ubuntu1.104.93-13ubuntu1.114.93-13ubuntu1.12 |
4.93-13ubuntu1.12+esm1 |
exim4Ubuntu:22.04:LTS |
before 4.95-4ubuntu2.8, plus listed versions 4.94.2-7ubuntu24.95-2ubuntu24.95-4ubuntu14.95-4ubuntu24.95-4ubuntu2.1 Show 6 moreShow less4.95-4ubuntu2.24.95-4ubuntu2.34.95-4ubuntu2.44.95-4ubuntu2.54.95-4ubuntu2.64.95-4ubuntu2.7 |
4.95-4ubuntu2.8 |
exim4Ubuntu:24.04:LTS |
before 4.97-4ubuntu4.5, plus listed versions 4.96-17ubuntu24.96-17ubuntu2.14.97-3ubuntu14.97-4ubuntu14.97-4ubuntu3 Show 5 moreShow less4.97-4ubuntu44.97-4ubuntu4.14.97-4ubuntu4.24.97-4ubuntu4.34.97-4ubuntu4.4 |
4.97-4ubuntu4.5 |
exim4Ubuntu:25.10 |
before 4.98.2-1ubuntu2.2, plus listed versions 4.98.1-1ubuntu24.98.2-1ubuntu14.98.2-1ubuntu24.98.2-1ubuntu2.1 |
4.98.2-1ubuntu2.2 |
exim4Ubuntu:26.04:LTS |
before 4.99.1-1ubuntu1.2, plus listed versions 4.98.2-1ubuntu24.99-4ubuntu14.99.1-1ubuntu14.99.1-1ubuntu1.1 |
4.99.1-1ubuntu1.2 |
exim4Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS |
before 4.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm9, plus listed versions 4.80-7ubuntu34.80-7ubuntu44.80-9ubuntu14.80-9ubuntu24.82-3ubuntu1 Show 12 moreShow less4.82-3ubuntu24.82-3ubuntu2.14.82-3ubuntu2.24.82-3ubuntu2.34.82-3ubuntu2.44.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm14.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm24.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm34.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm44.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm64.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm74.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm8 |
4.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm9 |
exim4Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS |
before 4.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm9, plus listed versions 4.86-3ubuntu14.86-7ubuntu14.86-7ubuntu24.86-7ubuntu34.86.2-2ubuntu1 Show 14 moreShow less4.86.2-2ubuntu24.86.2-2ubuntu2.14.86.2-2ubuntu2.24.86.2-2ubuntu2.34.86.2-2ubuntu2.44.86.2-2ubuntu2.54.86.2-2ubuntu2.64.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm14.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm24.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm44.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm54.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm64.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm74.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm8 |
4.86.2-2ubuntu2.6+esm9 |
exim4Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS |
before 4.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm6, plus listed versions 4.89-5ubuntu14.89-9ubuntu14.89-9ubuntu24.89-9ubuntu34.89-9ubuntu4 Show 14 moreShow less4.90.1-1ubuntu14.90.1-1ubuntu1.14.90.1-1ubuntu1.24.90.1-1ubuntu1.34.90.1-1ubuntu1.44.90.1-1ubuntu1.54.90.1-1ubuntu1.84.90.1-1ubuntu1.94.90.1-1ubuntu1.104.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm14.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm24.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm34.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm44.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm5 |
4.90.1-1ubuntu1.10+esm6 |
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| PoC in GitHub | 0init/CVE-2026-45185 | 2026-08-07 |
| PoC in GitHub | MJ-bin/POC_CVE-2026-45185 | 2026-05-19 |
| PoC in GitHub | liamromanis101/Dead.Letter-CVE-2026-45185 | 2026-05-12 |
| PoC in GitHub | materaj2/cve-2026-45185-detection-script | 2026-05-14 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV, PoC in GitHub |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-45185 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Exim, published May 12, 2026. Public exploit code exists. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.27%, the 69th percentile. Fixed in exim4 4.93-13ubuntu1.12+tuxcare.els2.
References
exim.org
code.exim.org/exim/wiki/wiki/EximSecurity
exim.org/static/doc/security/CVE-2026-45185.txt
xbow.com/blog/dead-letter-cve-2026-45185-xbow-found-rce-exim
news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48111748
openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/12/4
Show 16 moreShow less
exim.org/static/doc/security/EXIM-Security-2026-05-01.1
openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/12/25
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45185
github.com/advisories/GHSA-fhg4-whcv-f8v4
errata.tuxcare.com/els_os/ubuntu20.04els/CLSA-2026-1781269872.html
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-45185
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-45185
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45185
exim.org/static/doc/security/EXIM-Security-2026-05-01.1/EXIM-Security-2026-05-01.1.txt
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8270-1
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8382-1
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-51766
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-40685
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-40686
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-40687
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-48840