CVE-2020-1946 | Apache SpamAssassin has an OS Command Injection vulnerability

In Apache SpamAssassin before 3.4.5, malicious rule configuration (.cf) files can be configured to run system commands without any output or errors. With this, exploits can be injected in a number of scenarios. In addition to upgrading to SA version 3.4.5, users should only use update channels or 3rd party .cf files from trusted places.

Published: 2021-03-25 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-1946 is rated High Risk (74.3/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 6.13%, 93th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +2.72% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. 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-2020-1946

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 3.41% 6.13% +2.72%
2 2026-06-04 1.49% 3.41% +1.91%
3 2025-12-28 — 1.49% —

Full EPSS history (26 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-1946

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/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-2020-1946

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-1946

vendor priority summary link
alpine critical CVE-2020-1946: 1 source package rows (spamassassin); 25 state rows across 10 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 10, open 15. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2020-1946
debian not yet assigned CVE-2020-1946 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (spamassassin), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-1946
gentoo normal CVE-2020-1946: 1 GLSA(s) (202105-26), 1 atom(s) (mail-filter/spamassassin); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2020-1946
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-1946
suse high CVE-2020-1946 severity important: SUSE including 19 source package names (perl-Mail-SpamAssassin-3.4.5-12.10.1, perl-Mail-SpamAssassin-3.4.5-150600.23.4, …), 100 product×package rows across 45 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, … (45 product lines)): Fixed 100. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-1946/
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-1946 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (spamassassin), 6 status rows across 6 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 5, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-1946

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-1946

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache spamassassin < 3.4.5 cpe:2.3:a:apache:spamassassin:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 32 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:32:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 33 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 34 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-1946

cvelogic Threat Intelligence