CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2017-16943

Use After Free

Published: Nov 25, 2017 | Modified: Apr 20, 2025
CVSS 3.x
9.8
CRITICAL
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.x
7.5 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
9.8 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Ubuntu
HIGH

The receive_msg function in receive.c in the SMTP daemon in Exim 4.88 and 4.89 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (use-after-free) via vectors involving BDAT commands.

Weakness

The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory “belongs” to the code that operates on the new pointer.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Exim Exim 4.88 (including) 4.88 (including)
Exim Exim 4.89 (including) 4.89 (including)
Exim4 Ubuntu artful *
Exim4 Ubuntu devel *
Exim4 Ubuntu zesty *

Potential Mitigations

References