CVE-2021-38084

An issue was discovered in the POP3 component of Courier Mail Server before 1.1.5. Meddler-in-the-middle attackers can pipeline commands after the POP3 STLS command, injecting plaintext commands into an encrypted user session.

Published: 2021-08-03 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-38084 is rated Moderate Risk (54.2/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.51%). 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-2021-38084

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 2025-03-30 0.99% 0.51% -0.48%
2 2025-03-29 0.51% 0.99% +0.48%
3 2025-03-17 — 0.51% —

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-38084

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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.
 2.2 5.9 [email protected]
6.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.6 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-38084

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-38084

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-38084 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (courier), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 3, open 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-38084
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-38084 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (courier), 15 status rows across 15 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 6, needs-triage 6, DNE 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-38084

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-38084

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
courier-mta courier_mail_server < 1.1.5 cpe:2.3:a:courier-mta:courier_mail_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-38084

cvelogic Threat Intelligence