CVE-2026-45185
Exim GnuTLS Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Description
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.
INFO
Published Date :
May 12, 2026, 8:16 p.m.
Last Modified :
May 12, 2026, 9:16 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-45185
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
No affected product recoded yet
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | CRITICAL | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update Exim to version 4.99.3 or later.
- Verify GnuTLS configuration settings.
- Monitor network traffic for suspicious activity.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-45185.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-45185 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-45185
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-45185 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-45185 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
CVE Modified by [email protected]
May. 12, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Added CWE CWE-416 -
New CVE Received by [email protected]
May. 12, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description 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. Added Reference https://code.exim.org/exim/wiki/wiki/EximSecurity Added Reference https://exim.org Added Reference https://exim.org/static/doc/security/CVE-2026-45185.txt Added Reference https://exim.org/static/doc/security/EXIM-Security-2026-05-01.1/ Added Reference https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48111748 Added Reference https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/12/4 Added Reference https://xbow.com/blog/dead-letter-cve-2026-45185-xbow-found-rce-exim