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Vulnerabilities/CVE-2018-6789
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CVE-2018-6789

Exim Base64d Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

VendordebianPublishedFeb 8, 2018SourceNVDWeaknessCWE-120
Act now

Actively exploited in the wild. Patch or mitigate immediately — don't wait for a maintenance window.

PoCPublic exploit on Exploit-DB#45671 ↗#44571 ↗
Severity
Critical · 9.8
CVSS base score
Exploitation
In the wild
CISA KEV · Exploit-DB
Predicted risk
82% model
EPSS forecast — overtaken by confirmed exploitation
Exposure
Internet-facing
Exploitable remotely, no login, no user action
01

What's the risk?

An unauthenticated attacker, remotely over the network, with no user interaction, can fully compromise the system — steal data, tamper with it and take it offline.

An issue was discovered in the base64d function in the SMTP listener in Exim before 4.90.1. By sending a handcrafted message, a buffer overflow may happen. This can be used to execute code remotely.

How it's exploitedMITRE ATT&CK · 2 observed in the wild
Initial Access
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Applicationobserved
Execution
T1059Command and Scripting Interpreterobserved

Techniques marked “observed” are corroborated by threat intelligence; the rest are inferred from the weakness type (CWE) and attack vector.

02

Who's exploiting it?

Corroborated threat activity referencing this CVE — with source and confidence, not inference.

Confirmed exploited in the wild. CISA KEV · catalogued Nov 3, 2021
campaignRansomware campaigns90CISA KEV
Observed techniques MITRE-analysed · CTID Mappings Explorer
T1059Command and Scripting Interpreterobserved
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Applicationobserved

These techniques were analysed against this CVE's real-world exploitation — the matching entries in the ATT&CK chain above are marked “observed”.

03

Are we affected?

7
  • Affectedcanonical · ubuntu_linux17.10
  • Affectedcanonical · ubuntu_linux14.04
  • Affectedcanonical · ubuntu_linux16.04
  • Affecteddebian · debian_linux9.0
  • Affecteddebian · debian_linux7.0
  • Affecteddebian · debian_linux8.0
  • Affectedexim · exim< 4.90.1↑ fixed 4.90.1
04

What to do

Generated by Wavense from the CVE record — an immediate mitigation and the permanent fix.

  1. !

    Mitigate now

    To reduce immediate risk, restrict network access to Exim's SMTP port (25, 465, 587) using firewall rules, allowing connections only from trusted hosts or necessary external IPs. Deploy an email gateway or proxy capable of inspecting and sanitizing incoming SMTP traffic, specifically targeting malformed base64 encoded messages. Enhance logging and monitoring for anomalous Exim process behavior or outbound connections that could indicate a compromise attempt.

  2. ✓

    Permanent fix

    The permanent resolution is to immediately upgrade all affected Exim installations to version 4.90.1 or newer. This update contains the patch that specifically addresses the buffer overflow vulnerability within the `base64d` function of the SMTP listener. Ensure that the latest stable release is deployed to fully mitigate the risk of remote code execution.

Technical details— weakness, CVSS vector & calculator, related CVEs

Business impact

An attacker can exploit this buffer overflow by sending a specially crafted message to the Exim SMTP listener, leading to remote code execution. This allows an unauthorized attacker to gain full control over the compromised mail server with the privileges of the Exim daemon. The consequences include severe data breaches, service disruption, and the potential for the server to be used as a platform for further attacks.

Weakness

1
CWE-120Common Weakness Enumeration · MITRE definition

CVSS 3.1 details

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
0.0
/ 10.0 base
Critical severity
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploitability metrics
Attack VectorAV
Remotely exploitable across a network
Attack ComplexityAC
No special conditions required
Privileges RequiredPR
No authorization needed
User InteractionUI
No user participation needed
Impact metrics
ScopeS
Impact confined to the vulnerable component
ConfidentialityC
Total loss of confidentiality
IntegrityI
Total loss of integrity
AvailabilityA
Total loss of availability

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Critical severity
Key facts
CVE ID
CVE-2018-6789
Published
Feb 8, 2018
Last modified
Jun 17, 2026
CVSS
9.8 (v3.1)
EPSS
82.14%
In CISA KEV
Yes
Confidence
100/100
Weakness
CWE-120
Fixed in
4.90.1
Timeline
  1. Feb 8, 2018Published to NVDNVD
  2. Jun 17, 2026Record last modifiedNVD
  3. Aug 17, 2026AI analysis generatedWavense
View on NVD