CVE-2014-7844

BSD mailx 8.1.2 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted email address.

Published: 2020-01-14 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2014-7844 is rated Moderate Risk (57.3/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.55%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2014-7844

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.55% 1.55% +1.00%
2 2026-03-16 1.03% 0.55% -0.48%
3 2025-10-26 1.03%

Full EPSS history (16 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2014-7844

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2014-7844

OS Trackers for CVE-2014-7844

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2014-7844 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (bsd-mailx), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2014-7844
gentoo normal CVE-2014-7844: 1 GLSA(s) (201804-06), 1 atom(s) (mail-client/mailx); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2014-7844
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-7844
suse high CVE-2014-7844 severity important: SUSE including 17 source package names (mailx, mailx-12.5-1.7.1, …), 49 product×package rows across 48 product lines (Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-SAP-BYOS, Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-SAP-On-Demand, … (48 product lines)): Fixed 48, Known Not Affected 1. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-7844/
ubuntu medium CVE-2014-7844 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (bsd-mailx, heirloom-mailx), 20 status rows across 10 suites (lucid, precise, trusty, upstream, utopic, vivid, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): not-affected 6, released 6, ignored 4, DNE 3, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-7844

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2014-7844

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 6.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:6.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.7 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 6.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:6.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.2 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.5 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.7 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 6.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:6.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.7 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
bsd_mailx_project bsd_mailx 8.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:bsd_mailx_project:bsd_mailx:8.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2014-7844

cvelogic Threat Intelligence