Uncontrolled resource consumption in dovecot
Priority LOW 38CWE-400Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.0 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-400.
Summary
A flaw was found in dovecot 2.0 up to 2.2.33 and 2.3.0. An abort of SASL authentication results in a memory leak in dovecot's auth client used by login processes. The leak has impact in high performance configuration where same login processes are reused and can cause the process to crash due to memory exhaustion.
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.0312 87th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dovecot Project | dovecot | 2.0 up to 2.2.33 and 2.3.0 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- dovecot VendorThe Dovecot Project Affected 2.0 up to 2.2.33 and 2.3.0 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 9
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:dovecot:dovecot:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.0.0 – 2.2.33 | Vulnerable | The Dovecot Project |
| cpe:2.3:a:dovecot:dovecot:2.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.3.0 | Vulnerable | The Dovecot Project |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 9.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:* | 12.04 | Vulnerable | Canonical |
| cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* | 14.04 | Vulnerable | Canonical |
| cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* | 16.04 | Vulnerable | Canonical |
| cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:17.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 17.10 | Vulnerable | Canonical |
- cpe:2.3:a:dovecot:dovecot:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.0.0 – 2.2.33 Vulnerable ·The Dovecot Project
- cpe:2.3:a:dovecot:dovecot:2.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.3.0 Vulnerable ·The Dovecot Project
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 9.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
- cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:* Versions 12.04 Vulnerable ·Canonical
- cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* Versions 14.04 Vulnerable ·Canonical
- cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* Versions 16.04 Vulnerable ·Canonical
- cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:17.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 17.10 Vulnerable ·Canonical
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2017-15132
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-f5gc-665w-jv83
References
More The Dovecot Project Dovecot vulnerabilities
- TI-2019-08591 In Dovecot before 2.2.36.4 and 2.3.x before 2.3.7.2 (and Pigeonhole before 0.5.7.2)… CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2020-05686 lib-smtp in submission-login and lmtp in Dovecot 2.3.9 before 2.3.9.3 mishandles… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2016-07114 The auth component in Dovecot before 2.2.27, when auth-policy is configured, allows a… CVSS 3.0MEDIUM 5.9
- TI-2017-10567 Out-of-bounds read in Dovecot CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.1
- TI-2022-12706 An issue was discovered in the auth component in Dovecot 2.2 and 2.3 before 2.3.20. CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2020-08835 In Dovecot before 2.3.10.1, unauthenticated sending of malformed parameters to a NOOP… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2017-15132 · CVE Program
- CVE-2017-15132 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-f5gc-665w-jv83 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2017-15132 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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