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.
References
| Link | Resource |
|---|---|
| https://code.exim.org/exim/wiki/wiki/EximSecurity | Vendor Advisory |
| https://exim.org | Product |
| https://exim.org/static/doc/security/CVE-2026-45185.txt | Broken Link |
| https://exim.org/static/doc/security/EXIM-Security-2026-05-01.1/ | Release Notes |
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48111748 | Issue Tracking |
| https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/12/4 | Mailing List Third Party Advisory |
| https://xbow.com/blog/dead-letter-cve-2026-45185-xbow-found-rce-exim | Third Party Advisory |
| http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/12/25 | Mailing List Third Party Advisory |
Configurations
History
28 May 2026, 18:46
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| CPE | cpe:2.3:a:exim:exim:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| First Time |
Exim exim
Exim |
|
| References | () https://code.exim.org/exim/wiki/wiki/EximSecurity - Vendor Advisory | |
| References | () https://exim.org - Product | |
| References | () https://exim.org/static/doc/security/CVE-2026-45185.txt - Broken Link | |
| References | () https://exim.org/static/doc/security/EXIM-Security-2026-05-01.1/ - Release Notes | |
| References | () https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48111748 - Issue Tracking | |
| References | () https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/12/4 - Mailing List, Third Party Advisory | |
| References | () https://xbow.com/blog/dead-letter-cve-2026-45185-xbow-found-rce-exim - Third Party Advisory | |
| References | () http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/12/25 - Mailing List, Third Party Advisory |
13 May 2026, 15:52
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References |
|
12 May 2026, 21:16
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| CVSS |
v2 : v3 : |
v2 : unknown
v3 : 9.8 |
| CWE | CWE-416 |
12 May 2026, 20:16
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| New CVE |
Information
Published : 2026-05-12 20:16
Updated : 2026-05-28 18:46
NVD link : CVE-2026-45185
Mitre link : CVE-2026-45185
CVE.ORG link : CVE-2026-45185
JSON object : View
Products Affected
exim
- exim
CWE
CWE-416
Use After Free
