CVE-2023-51764
CVE-2023-51764 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Postfix with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.3. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-345.
Key facts
- Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.3)
- EPSS exploit prediction: 3% (83rd percentile)
- Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
- Weakness: CWE-345
- Affected product: Postfix
- Published:
- Last modified:
Description
Postfix through 3.8.5 allows SMTP smuggling unless configured with smtpd_data_restrictions=reject_unauth_pipelining and smtpd_discard_ehlo_keywords=chunking (or certain other options that exist in recent versions). Remote attackers can use a published exploitation technique to inject e-mail messages with a spoofed MAIL FROM address, allowing bypass of an SPF protection mechanism. This occurs because Postfix supports <LF>.<CR><LF> but some other popular e-mail servers do not. To prevent attack variants (by always disallowing <LF> without <CR>), a different solution is required, such as the smtpd_forbid_bare_newline=yes option with a Postfix minimum version of 3.5.23, 3.6.13, 3.7.9, 3.8.4, or 3.9.
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2023-51764?
- Postfix through 3.8.5 allows SMTP smuggling unless configured with smtpd_data_restrictions=reject_unauth_pipelining and smtpd_discard_ehlo_keywords=chunking (or certain other options that exist in recent versions). Remote attackers can use a published exploitation technique to inject e-mail messages with a spoofed MAIL FROM address, allowing bypass of an SPF protection mechanism. This occurs because Postfix supports <LF>.<CR><LF> but some other popular e-mail servers do not. To prevent attack variants (by always disallowing <LF> without <CR>), a different solution is required, such as the smtpd_forbid_bare_newline=yes option with a Postfix minimum version of 3.5.23, 3.6.13, 3.7.9, 3.8.4, or 3.9.
- How severe is CVE-2023-51764?
- CVE-2023-51764 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.3, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity low, and availability none.
- Is CVE-2023-51764 being actively exploited?
- It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 3% (83rd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
- What products are affected by CVE-2023-51764?
- CVE-2023-51764 primarily affects Postfix. In total, 5 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
- How do I fix CVE-2023-51764?
- Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
- When was CVE-2023-51764 published?
- CVE-2023-51764 was published on 2023-12-24 and last updated on 2026-06-17.
References
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/12/24/1
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/12/25/1
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/05/09/3
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-51764
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2255563
- https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2023/fahrplan/events/11782.html
- https://github.com/duy-31/CVE-2023-51764
- https://github.com/eeenvik1/CVE-2023-51764
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/01/msg00020.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JQ5WXFCW2N6G2PH3JXDTYW5PH5EBQEGO/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QRLF5SOS7TP5N7FQSEK2NFNB44ISVTZC/
- https://lwn.net/Articles/956533/
- https://sec-consult.com/blog/detail/smtp-smuggling-spoofing-e-mails-worldwide/
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/01/22/1
- https://www.postfix.org/announcements/postfix-3.8.5.html
- https://www.postfix.org/smtp-smuggling.html
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8KPV96g1To
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/JQ5WXFCW2N6G2PH3JXDTYW5PH5EBQEGO/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/QRLF5SOS7TP5N7FQSEK2NFNB44ISVTZC/
Affected products (5)
- cpe:2.3:a:postfix:postfix:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
- cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:38:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
- cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:39:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
- cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
- cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
More vulnerabilities in Postfix
- CVE-2017-10140 — High (CVSS 7.8): Postfix before 2.11.10, 3.0.x before 3.0.10, 3.1.x before 3.1.6, and 3.2.x before 3.2.2 might allow local users to gain…
- CVE-2009-2939 — Medium (CVSS 6.9): The postfix.postinst script in the Debian GNU/Linux and Ubuntu postfix 2.5.5 package grants the postfix user write…
- CVE-2008-4977 — Medium (CVSS 6.9): postfix_groups.pl in Postfix 2.5.2 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on the (1)…
- CVE-2011-1720 — Medium (CVSS 6.8): The SMTP server in Postfix before 2.5.13, 2.6.x before 2.6.10, 2.7.x before 2.7.4, and 2.8.x before 2.8.3, when certain…
- CVE-2011-0411 — Medium (CVSS 6.8): The STARTTLS implementation in Postfix 2.4.x before 2.4.16, 2.5.x before 2.5.12, 2.6.x before 2.6.9, and 2.7.x before…
- CVE-2012-0811 — Medium (CVSS 6.5): Multiple SQL injection vulnerabilities in Postfix Admin (aka postfixadmin) before 2.3.5 allow remote authenticated…
Other CWE-345 (Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity) vulnerabilities
- CVE-2026-35051 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Traefik is an HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer. Prior to versions 2.11.43, 3.6.14, and 3.7.0-rc.2, there is an…
- CVE-2014-8165 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): scripts/amsvis/powerpcAMS/amsnet.py in powerpc-utils-python uses the pickle Python module unsafely, which allows remote…
- CVE-2026-50195 — Critical (CVSS 9.9): containerd is an open-source container runtime. Versions prior to 2.3.2, 2.2.5 and 2.1.9 contain a vulnerability in the…
- CVE-2022-36130 — Critical (CVSS 9.9): HashiCorp Boundary up to 0.10.1 did not properly perform data integrity checks to ensure the resources were associated…
- CVE-2026-50214 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): The /v1/Plan service relies entirely on a shared global API token for full administrative management, allowing…
- CVE-2025-15385 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity vulnerability in TECNO Mobile com.Afmobi.Boomplayer allows…
Browse all CWE-345 (Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity) vulnerabilities →