CVE-2022-3559 | Exim Regex use after free

A vulnerability was found in Exim and classified as problematic. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Regex Handler. The manipulation leads to use after free. The name of the patch is 4e9ed49f8f12eb331b29bd5b6dc3693c520fddc2. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. The identifier VDB-211073 was assigned to this vulnerability.

Published: 2022-10-17 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2022-3559 is rated Moderate Risk (52.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.66%). EPSS rose +3.19% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. 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-2022-3559

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 0.47% 3.66% +3.19%
2 2026-05-16 0.66% 0.47% -0.19%
3 2026-03-26 — 0.66% —

Full EPSS history (24 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-3559

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.6 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:A)
Attacker has to be nearby on the network—same office, same link, that vibe—not the whole wide internet.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.2 3.4 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-3559

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-3559

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-3559 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-2022-3559
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-3559 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (exim4), 7 status rows across 7 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 5, not-affected 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-3559

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-3559

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
exim exim < 4.97 cpe:2.3:a:exim:exim:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 35 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 36 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:36:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 37 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:37:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-3559

cvelogic Threat Intelligence