How severe is CVE-2019-11500?

CVE-2019-11500 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2019-11500 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 63% (99th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2019-11500?

CVE-2019-11500 primarily affects Dovecot. In total, 4 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2019-11500?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2019-11500 published?

CVE-2019-11500 was published on 2019-08-29 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2019-11500

CVE-2019-11500 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Dovecot with a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score of 63% places it in the 99th percentile, indicating an elevated likelihood of exploitation. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-787.

Key facts

Severity: Critical (CVSS 3.x base score 9.8)
CVSS v2: 7.5
EPSS exploit prediction: 63% (99th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-787
Affected product: Dovecot
Published: 2019-08-29
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

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 quoted strings. This occurs because '\0' characters are mishandled, and can lead to out-of-bounds writes and remote code execution.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-11500?: 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 quoted strings. This occurs because '\0' characters are mishandled, and can lead to out-of-bounds writes and remote code execution.
How severe is CVE-2019-11500?: CVE-2019-11500 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2019-11500 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 63% (99th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2019-11500?: CVE-2019-11500 primarily affects Dovecot. In total, 4 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2019-11500?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2019-11500 published?: CVE-2019-11500 was published on 2019-08-29 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (4)

cpe:2.3:a:dovecot:dovecot:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:dovecot:pigeonhole:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:30:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Dovecot

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…
CVE-2025-59032 — High (CVSS 7.5): ManageSieve AUTHENTICATE command crashes when using literal as SASL initial response. This can be used to crash…

All CVEs affecting Dovecot →

Other CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-42369 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): GV-VMS V20 is a Video Monitoring Software used to gather the feeds of many surveillance cameras and manage other…
CVE-2026-4746 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in timeplus-io proton (base/poco/Foundation/src‎ modules). This vulnerability is…
CVE-2025-43300 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 15.8.5 and iPadOS…
CVE-2025-24201 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved checks to prevent unauthorized actions. This issue is fixed in…
CVE-2024-42479 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): llama.cpp provides LLM inference in C/C++. The unsafe `data` pointer member in the `rpc_tensor` structure can cause…
CVE-2024-39791 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Stack-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities affecting Vonets industrial wifi bridge relays and wifi bridge…

Browse all CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) vulnerabilities →