CVE-2022-3559
Exim Regex use after free
A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Regex Handler. The manipulation leads to use after free. The name of the patch is 4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-211073 was assigned to this vulnerability.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Adjacent network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
4.6
Exim Regex use after free
A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Regex Handler. The manipulation leads to use after free. The name of the patch is 4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-211073 was assigned to this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2022-3559- CVSS 3.1
- 4.6 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-119
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-42925
4.6
A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Regex Handler. The manipulation leads to use after free. The name of the patch is 4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-211073 was assigned to this vulnerability.
- Record
EUVD-2022-42925- CVSS 3.1
- 4.6 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-86wj-xg3c-r8gx
7.5
A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as critical. This issue affects some unknown...
A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as critical. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Regex Handler. The manipulation leads to use after free. The name of the patch is 4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-211073 was assigned to this vulnerability.
- Record
GHSA-86wj-xg3c-r8gx- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-119, CWE-416
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
4.6
A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Regex Handler. The manipulation leads to use after free. The name of the patch is 4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-211073 was assigned to this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2022-3559- CVSS 3.1
- 4.6 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-119, CWE-416
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
4.6
Exim Regex use after free
A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Regex Handler. The manipulation leads to use after free. The name of the patch is 4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-211073 was assigned to this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2022-3559- CVSS 3.1
- 4.6 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-119
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2022-3559
7.5
A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Regex Handler. The manipulation leads to use after free. The name of the patch is 4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-211073 was assigned to this vulnerability.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2022-3559- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
Show 10 moreShow less
OSVOESA-2024-1926
7.5
exim security update
Exim is a message transfer agent (MTA) developed at the University of Cambridge for use on Unix systems connected to the Internet. It is freely available under the terms of the GNU General Public Licence. In style it is similar to Smail 3, but its facilities are more general. There is a great deal of flexibility in the way mail can be routed, and there are extensive facilities for checking incoming mail. Exim can be installed in place of sendmail, although the configuration of exim is quite different to that of sendmail.
Security Fix(es):
A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Regex Handler. The manipulation leads to use after free. The name of the patch is 4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-211073 was assigned to this vulnerability.(CVE-2022-3559)
Exim before 4.97.1 allows SMTP smuggling in certain PIPELINING/CHUNKING configurations. Remote attackers can use a published exploitation technique to inject e-mail messages with a spoofed MAIL FROM address, allowing bypass of an SPF protection mechanism. This occurs because Exim supports <LF>.<CR><LF> but some other popular e-mail servers do not.(CVE-2023-51766)
- Record
OESA-2024-1926- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVOESA-2024-1927
7.5
exim security update
Exim is a message transfer agent (MTA) developed at the University of Cambridge for use on Unix systems connected to the Internet. It is freely available under the terms of the GNU General Public Licence. In style it is similar to Smail 3, but its facilities are more general. There is a great deal of flexibility in the way mail can be routed, and there are extensive facilities for checking incoming mail. Exim can be installed in place of sendmail, although the configuration of exim is quite different to that of sendmail.
Security Fix(es):
A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Regex Handler. The manipulation leads to use after free. The name of the patch is 4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-211073 was assigned to this vulnerability.(CVE-2022-3559)
Exim before 4.97.1 allows SMTP smuggling in certain PIPELINING/CHUNKING configurations. Remote attackers can use a published exploitation technique to inject e-mail messages with a spoofed MAIL FROM address, allowing bypass of an SPF protection mechanism. This occurs because Exim supports <LF>.<CR><LF> but some other popular e-mail servers do not.(CVE-2023-51766)
- Record
OESA-2024-1927- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2022-3559
7.5
A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Regex Handler. The manipulation leads to use after free. The name of the patch is 4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-211073 was assigned to this vulnerability.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2022-3559- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 4.6 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVCLSA-2023-1699908139 No score
exim: Fix of CVE-2022-3559
- CVE-2022-3559: Fix $regex<n> use-after-free
- Record
CLSA-2023-1699908139- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVCLSA-2023-1699908687 No score
exim: Fix of CVE-2022-3559
- CVE-2022-3559: Fix $regex<n> use-after-free
- Record
CLSA-2023-1699908687- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2022:10168-1 No score
Security update for exim
This update for exim fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2022-3559: Fixed a use after free in processing of the component Regex Handler (boo#1204427, Bug 2915)
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2022:10168-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2022:10191-1 No score
Security update for exim
This update for exim fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2022-3559: Fixed use after free in processing of the component Regex Handler (boo#1204427, Bug 2915)
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2022:10191-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:0007-1 No score
Security update for exim
This update for exim fixes the following issues:
exim was updated to 4.97.1 (boo#1218387, CVE-2023-51766):
- Fixes for the smtp protocol smuggling (CVE-2023-51766)
exim was updated to exim 4.96:
- Move from using the pcre library to pcre2.
- Constification work in the filters module required a major version bump for the local-scan API. Specifically, the 'headers_charset' global which is visible via the API is now const and may therefore not be modified by local-scan code.
- Bug 2819: speed up command-line messages being read in. Previously a time check was being done for every character; replace that with one per buffer.
- Bug 2815: Fix ALPN sent by server under OpenSSL. Previously the string sent was prefixed with a length byte.
- Change the SMTP feature name for pipelining connect to be compliant with RFC 5321. Previously Dovecot (at least) would log errors during submission.
- Fix macro-definition during '-be' expansion testing. The move to write-protected store for macros had not accounted for these runtime additions; fix by removing this protection for '-be' mode.
- Convert all uses of select() to poll().
- Fix use of $sender_host_name in daemon process. When used in certain main-section options or in a connect ACL, the value from the first ever connection was never replaced for subsequent connections.
- Bug 2838: Fix for i32lp64 hard-align platforms
- Bug 2845: Fix handling of tls_require_ciphers for OpenSSL when a value with underbars is given.
- Bug 1895: TLS: Deprecate RFC 5114 Diffie-Hellman parameters.
- Debugging initiated by an ACL control now continues through into routing and transport processes.
- The 'expand' debug selector now gives more detail, specifically on the result of expansion operators and items.
- Bug 2751: Fix include_directory in redirect routers. Previously a bad comparison between the option value and the name of the file to be included was done, and a mismatch was wrongly identified.
- Support for Berkeley DB versions 1 and 2 is withdrawn.
- When built with NDBM for hints DB's check for nonexistence of a name supplied as the db file-pair basename.
- Remove the 'allow_insecure_tainted_data' main config option and the 'taint' log_selector.
- Fix static address-list lookups to properly return the matched item. Previously only the domain part was returned.
- The ${run} expansion item now expands its command string elements after splitting. Previously it was before; the new ordering makes handling zero-length arguments simpler.
- Taint-check exec arguments for transport-initiated external processes. Previously, tainted values could be used. This affects 'pipe', 'lmtp' and 'queryprogram' transport, transport-filter, and ETRN commands. The ${run} expansion is also affected: in 'preexpand' mode no part of the command line may be tainted, in default mode the executable name may not be tainted.
- Fix CHUNKING on a continued-transport. Previously the usabilility of the facility was not passed across execs, and only the first message passed over a connection could use BDAT; any further ones using DATA.
- Support the PIPECONNECT facility in the smtp transport when the helo_data uses $sending_ip_address and an interface is specified.
- OpenSSL: fix transport-required OCSP stapling verification under session resumption.
- TLS resumption: the key for session lookup in the client now includes more info that a server could potentially use in configuring a TLS session, avoiding oferring mismatching sessions to such a server.
- Fix string_copyn() for limit greater than actual string length.
- Bug 2886: GnuTLS: Do not free the cached creds on transport connection close; it may be needed for a subsequent connection.
- Fix CHUNKING for a second message on a connection when the first was rejected.
- Fix…
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:0007-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:12422-1 No score
exim-4.96-3.1 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the exim-4.96-3.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:12422-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUSN-5741-1 No score
exim4 vulnerability
It was discovered that Exim incorrectly handled certain regular expressions. An attacker could use this issue to cause Exim to crash, resulting in a denial of service, or possibly execute arbitrary code.
- Record
USN-5741-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
eximTuxCare:CentOS:6 |
before 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 | 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 |
exim-greylistTuxCare:CentOS:6 |
before 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 | 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 |
exim-monTuxCare:CentOS:6 |
before 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 | 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 |
exim-mysqlTuxCare:CentOS:6 |
before 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 | 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 |
exim-pgsqlTuxCare:CentOS:6 |
before 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 | 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 |
eximTuxCare:OracleLinux:6 |
before 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 | 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 |
exim-greylistTuxCare:OracleLinux:6 |
before 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 | 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 |
exim-monTuxCare:OracleLinux:6 |
before 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 | 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 |
exim-mysqlTuxCare:OracleLinux:6 |
before 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 | 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 |
exim-pgsqlTuxCare:OracleLinux:6 |
before 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 | 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5 |
Show 16 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
exim4Debian:12 |
before 4.96-4 | 4.96-4 |
exim4Debian:13 |
before 4.96-4 | 4.96-4 |
exim4Debian:14 |
before 4.96-4 | 4.96-4 |
exim4Debian:11 |
before 4.94.2-7+deb11u4, plus listed versions 4.94.2-74.94.2-7+deb11u14.94.2-7+deb11u24.94.2-7+deb11u3 |
4.94.2-7+deb11u4 |
eximopenEuler:22.03-LTS-SP3 |
before 4.96-3.oe2203sp3 | 4.96-3.oe2203sp3 |
eximopenEuler:22.03-LTS-SP4 |
before 4.96-3.oe2203sp4 | 4.96-3.oe2203sp4 |
exim4Ubuntu:18.04:LTS |
before 4.90.1-1ubuntu1.10, plus listed versions 4.89-5ubuntu14.89-9ubuntu14.89-9ubuntu24.89-9ubuntu34.89-9ubuntu4 Show 8 moreShow less4.90.1-1ubuntu14.90.1-1ubuntu1.14.90.1-1ubuntu1.24.90.1-1ubuntu1.34.90.1-1ubuntu1.44.90.1-1ubuntu1.54.90.1-1ubuntu1.84.90.1-1ubuntu1.9 |
4.90.1-1ubuntu1.10 |
exim4Ubuntu:20.04:LTS |
before 4.93-13ubuntu1.7, plus listed versions 4.92.1-1ubuntu34.92.1-1ubuntu44.93~RC2-1ubuntu14.93-9ubuntu14.93-11ubuntu1 Show 5 moreShow less4.93-12ubuntu14.93-13ubuntu14.93-13ubuntu1.14.93-13ubuntu1.54.93-13ubuntu1.6 |
4.93-13ubuntu1.7 |
exim4Ubuntu:22.04:LTS |
before 4.95-4ubuntu2.2, plus listed versions 4.94.2-7ubuntu24.95-2ubuntu24.95-4ubuntu14.95-4ubuntu24.95-4ubuntu2.1 |
4.95-4ubuntu2.2 |
eximSUSE:Package Hub 15 SP4 |
before 4.94.2-bp154.2.3.1 | 4.94.2-bp154.2.3.1 |
eximopenSUSE:Leap 15.4 |
before 4.94.2-bp154.2.3.1 | 4.94.2-bp154.2.3.1 |
eximSUSE:Package Hub 15 SP3 |
before 4.94.2-bp153.5.1 | 4.94.2-bp153.5.1 |
eximopenSUSE:Leap 15.3 |
before 4.94.2-bp153.5.1 | 4.94.2-bp153.5.1 |
eximSUSE:Package Hub 15 SP5 |
before 4.97.1-bp155.5.9.1 | 4.97.1-bp155.5.9.1 |
eximopenSUSE:Leap 15.5 |
before 4.97.1-bp155.5.9.1 | 4.97.1-bp155.5.9.1 |
eximopenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 4.96-3.1 | 4.96-3.1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2022-3559 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.6) in Exim, published October 17, 2022. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 5.05%, the 92nd percentile. Fixed in exim 4.92.3-3.el6.tuxcare.els5.
References
git.exim.org/exim.git/commit/4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2
vuldb.com?id.211073
bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2915
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/WFHLZVHNNO2GWYP5EA4TZQZ5O4GVPARR
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TMQ6OCKPNPBPSD37YR4FOWV2R54M2UEP
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/EIH4W5R7SHTUEQFWWKB4TUO5YFZX64KV
Show 28 moreShow less
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/10/msg00029.html
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-3559
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/EIH4W5R7SHTUEQFWWKB4TUO5YFZX64KV
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/TMQ6OCKPNPBPSD37YR4FOWV2R54M2UEP
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/WFHLZVHNNO2GWYP5EA4TZQZ5O4GVPARR
github.com/advisories/GHSA-86wj-xg3c-r8gx
errata.cloudlinux.com/els6/CLSA-2023-1699908139.html
errata.cloudlinux.com/ol6/CLSA-2023-1699908687.html
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2022/3xxx/CVE-2022-3559.json
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-3559
openeuler.org/en/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2024-1926
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-51766
openeuler.org/en/security/security-bulletins/detail?id=openEuler-SA-2024-1927
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-3559
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5741-1
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-3559
lists.opensuse.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/LI7MWYRHKOFZJKW5J7VZ57IF4CMVLQVV
bugzilla.suse.com/1204427
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-3559
lists.opensuse.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/WHI2HMP6DAOZTDSD24DOTAX6F7CVWV26
lists.opensuse.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/HHLYW3QLWRHGQXVXSQUL2DBTCFFCJGNB
bugzilla.suse.com/1218387
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-42114
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-42115
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-42116
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-42117
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-42119
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-51766
Left out here: the rest of 1 source description. The JSON record has them.