How severe is CVE-2017-14461?

CVE-2017-14461 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.9, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with high attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is low, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2017-14461 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 18% (97th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2017-14461?

CVE-2017-14461 primarily affects Dovecot. In total, 6 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2017-14461?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2017-14461 published?

CVE-2017-14461 was published on 2018-03-02 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2017-14461

CVE-2017-14461 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Dovecot with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.9. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score of 18% places it in the 97th percentile, indicating an elevated likelihood of exploitation. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-125.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.9)
CVSS v2: 5.5
EPSS exploit prediction: 18% (97th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-125
Affected product: Dovecot
Published: 2018-03-02
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

A specially crafted email delivered over SMTP and passed on to Dovecot by MTA can trigger an out of bounds read resulting in potential sensitive information disclosure and denial of service. In order to trigger this vulnerability, an attacker needs to send a specially crafted email message to the server.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2017-14461?: A specially crafted email delivered over SMTP and passed on to Dovecot by MTA can trigger an out of bounds read resulting in potential sensitive information disclosure and denial of service. In order to trigger this vulnerability, an attacker needs to send a specially crafted email message to the server.
How severe is CVE-2017-14461?: CVE-2017-14461 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.9, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with high attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is low, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2017-14461 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 18% (97th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2017-14461?: CVE-2017-14461 primarily affects Dovecot. In total, 6 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2017-14461?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2017-14461 published?: CVE-2017-14461 was published on 2018-03-02 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (6)

cpe:2.3:a:dovecot:dovecot:2.2.33.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:ubuntu:ubuntu:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:ubuntu:ubuntu:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:ubuntu:ubuntu:17.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Dovecot

CVE-2019-11500 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In Dovecot before 2.2.36.4 and 2.3.x before 2.3.7.2 (and Pigeonhole before 0.5.7.2), protocol processing can fail for…
CVE-2022-30550 — High (CVSS 8.8): An issue was discovered in the auth component in Dovecot 2.2 and 2.3 before 2.3.20. When two passdb configuration…
CVE-2019-7524 — High (CVSS 8.8): In Dovecot before 2.2.36.3 and 2.3.x before 2.3.5.1, a local attacker can cause a buffer overflow in the indexer-worker…
CVE-2026-24031 — High (CVSS 7.7): Dovecot SQL based authentication can be bypassed when auth_username_chars is cleared by admin. This vulnerability…
CVE-2019-3814 — High (CVSS 7.7): It was discovered that Dovecot before versions 2.2.36.1 and 2.3.4.1 incorrectly handled client certificates. A remote…
CVE-2026-27858 — High (CVSS 7.5): Attacker can send a specifically crafted message before authentication that causes managesieve to allocate large amount…

All CVEs affecting Dovecot →

Other CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-24826 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Out-of-bounds Write, Divide By Zero, NULL Pointer Dereference, Use of Uninitialized Resource, Out-of-bounds Read,…
CVE-2024-22004 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Due to length check, an attacker with privilege access on a Linux Nonsecure operating system can trigger a…
CVE-2021-41556 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): sqclass.cpp in Squirrel through 2.2.5 and 3.x through 3.1 allows an out-of-bounds read (in the core interpreter) that…
CVE-2021-21777 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): An information disclosure vulnerability exists in the Ethernet/IP UDP handler functionality of EIP Stack Group OpENer…
CVE-2017-14451 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): An exploitable out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in libevm (Ethereum Virtual Machine) of CPP-Ethereum. A…
CVE-2013-0767 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The nsSVGPathElement::GetPathLengthScale function in Mozilla Firefox before 18.0, Firefox ESR 10.x before 10.0.12 and…

Browse all CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) vulnerabilities →