CVE-2026-40020

Attacker can use the IMAP SETACL command to inject the anyone permission to user's dovecot-acl file even if imap_acl_allow_anyone=no. This causes folders to be spammed to all users. The impact is limited to being able to spam folders to other users, no unexpected access is gained. Install to fixed version. No publicly available exploits are known.

Published: 2026-05-12 Last update: 2026-05-18 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-40020 is rated Low Risk (12.9/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

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-2026-40020

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 2026-05-13 — 0.01% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-40020

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
3.1 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L 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: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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.6 1.4 [email protected]
4.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L 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: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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 2.8 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-40020

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-40020

GHSA-h6rp-9mjf-6x88 · Severity: low — Attacker can use the IMAP SETACL command to inject the anyone permission to user's dovecot-acl...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-40020

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-40020 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (dovecot), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-40020
suse medium CVE-2026-40020 severity moderate: SUSE including 1 source package names (dovecot), 19 product×package rows across 19 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS, … (19 product lines)): Known Not Affected 19. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-40020/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-40020 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (dovecot), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 5, released 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-40020

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-40020

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
dovecot dovecot < 2.4.4 cpe:2.3:a:dovecot:dovecot:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
open-xchange dovecot < 3.1.5 cpe:2.3:a:open-xchange:dovecot:*:*:*:*:pro:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-40020

cvelogic Threat Intelligence