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Vulnerabilities/CVE-2019-16928
Vulnerability dossier

CVE-2019-16928

Exim RCE via Heap Buffer Overflow in EHLO

VendorfedoraprojectPublishedSep 27, 2019SourceNVDWeaknessCWE-787
Act now

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

Severity
Critical · 9.8
CVSS base score
Exploitation
In the wild
CISA KEV
Predicted risk
42% 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.

Exim 4.92 through 4.92.2 allows remote code execution, a different vulnerability than CVE-2019-15846. There is a heap-based buffer overflow in string_vformat in string.c involving a long EHLO command.

How it's exploitedMITRE ATT&CK · inferred from weakness & vector
Initial Access
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application

Inferred from the weakness type (CWE) and how the flaw is reached — the techniques an attacker would chain to exploit this. Real-world corroboration appears here as threat intel is folded in.

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 Mar 3, 2022

Named threat actors and observed ATT&CK techniques appear here as intel feeds are folded in — the ATT&CK chain above stays inferred until then.

03

Are we affected?

6
  • Affectedcanonical · ubuntu_linux19.04
  • Affecteddebian · debian_linux10.0
  • Affectedexim · eximall versions
Affected
fedoraproject · fedora
29
  • Affectedfedoraproject · fedora30
  • Affectedfedoraproject · fedora31
  • 04

    What to do

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

    1. !

      Mitigate now

      Implement network-level rate limiting on incoming SMTP connections to port 25 to slow down potential brute-force or exploitation attempts. Deploy an Intrusion Detection/Prevention System (IDPS) to monitor for unusually long EHLO commands or known exploit signatures targeting Exim. Consider restricting direct internet access to Exim from unknown sources, if feasible, by routing through a hardened mail gateway.

    2. ✓

      Permanent fix

      The permanent resolution is to immediately upgrade all affected Exim installations to version 4.92.3 or later. This patched version addresses the heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability, eliminating the remote code execution risk. Review and ensure your package manager or official Exim sources are configured to provide the latest secure release.

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

    Business impact

    An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit a heap-based buffer overflow by sending a crafted, excessively long EHLO command. This allows the attacker to achieve remote code execution, gaining full control over the compromised Exim mail server. This can lead to sensitive data exfiltration, disruption of mail services, and the use of the server as a platform for further attacks.

    Weakness

    1
    CWE-787Common 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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    0.0
    / 10.0 base
    Critical severity
    Key facts
    CVE ID
    CVE-2019-16928
    Published
    Sep 27, 2019
    Last modified
    Nov 7, 2025
    CVSS
    9.8 (v3.1)
    EPSS
    41.64%
    In CISA KEV
    Yes
    Confidence
    100/100
    Weakness
    CWE-787
    Timeline
    1. Sep 27, 2019Published to NVDNVD
    2. Nov 7, 2025Record last modifiedNVD
    3. Aug 22, 2026AI analysis generatedWavense
    View on NVD