CVE-2019-15846

Exim before 4.92.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code as root via a trailing backslash.

Published: 2019-09-06 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2019-15846 is rated High Risk (72.2/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 63.99%, 98th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize 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-2019-15846

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 2026-06-13 65.45% 63.99% -1.46%
2 2026-05-14 63.99% 65.45% +1.46%
3 2026-04-24 — 63.99% —

Full EPSS history (61 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-15846

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.0 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
10.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
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.
 10.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-15846

OS Trackers for CVE-2019-15846

vendor priority summary link
alpine critical CVE-2019-15846: 1 source package rows (exim); 19 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 7, open 12. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2019-15846
debian not yet assigned CVE-2019-15846 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (exim4), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-15846
gentoo high CVE-2019-15846: 1 GLSA(s) (201909-06), 1 atom(s) (mail-mta/exim); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2019-15846
redhat critical — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-15846
ubuntu high CVE-2019-15846 high priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (exim4), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bionic, disco, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 4, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-15846

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-15846

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
exim exim < 4.92.2 cpe:2.3:a:exim:exim:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-15846

URL Tags
http://exim.org/static/doc/security/CVE-2019-15846.txt Mitigation Vendor Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-09/msg00024.html
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/06/2
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/06/4
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/06/5
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/06/6
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/06/8
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/07/1
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/07/2
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/08/1
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/09/1
https://exim.org/static/doc/security/CVE-2019-15846.txt
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/09/msg00004.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FT3GY7V7SR2RHKNZNQCGXFWUSILVSZNU/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/NDF37AUNETIOXY6ZLQAUBGBVUTMMV242/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SBNHDAF74RI6VK2JVSEIE3VYNL7JJDYM/
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Sep/13 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201909-06
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4124-1/
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4124-2/
https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4517
https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/672565
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/06/1 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
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