Untrusted envelope sender in hMailServer lets forged mail pass SPF
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · High · None
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
Progressive Robot Ltd hMailServer from 6.0.0 through 6.3.6 takes the From header address of mail downloaded from external POP3 or IMAP accounts as the envelope sender (CWE-348). A remote unauthenticated attacker can have forwarded mail carry a hosted domain as its envelope sender, so it passes SPF and DMARC at other receivers. The attacker needs a mailbox elsewhere that an account on the server collects and forwards to an outside address.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
Description from the CNA
Use of a less trusted source for the envelope sender in the external-account download of Progressive Robot hMailServer 6.0.0 through 6.3.6 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to have mail they write in the name of a domain the server hosts sent on by the server with an envelope sender at that domain, so that it passes the domain's SPF and DMARC at other receivers. A message the server downloads from an external POP3 or IMAP account has no SMTP envelope of its own, and the server took the address in its From header as its envelope sender, whatever that address was. A forward or redirect of the downloaded message to an outside address then left with that address as its envelope sender, which the Sender Rewriting Scheme leaves alone for a hosted domain, so that the receiver's SPF check passed for the forged domain, aligned even under strict alignment, with no non-default setting, host name record or DMARC policy needed. An attacker needs to know a mailbox elsewhere that an account here collects and forwards to an outside address; an account holder who adds an external account of their own can collect from a server of their own, which matters where SmtpAuthenticatedSenderCheck holds signed-in senders to their own addresses.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Robot Ltd | hMailServer | 6.0.0 – 6.3.6 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- hMailServer VendorProgressive Robot Ltd Affected 6.0.0 – 6.3.6 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
Remediation
The sources list no fixed version for hMailServer.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
Timeline
- 2026-10-21 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-114474
- 2026-10-21 Alias added: GHSA-q9cg-xjph-9q7j
- 2026-10-23 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-29 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
More Progressive Robot Ltd vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-64884 Improper Neutralization of Directives in Dynamically Evaluated Code ('Eval Injection') in hMailServer CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-76418 Unchecked loop limit in hMailServer lets remote attackers stop mail CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-69567 Inefficient processing in hMailServer stalls mail delivery CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-69565 Infinite loop in hMailServer MIME handling lets attackers stop mail CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-69564 Inefficient DKIM and ARC checks in hMailServer cause denial of service CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-69562 Inefficient JSON parsing in hMailServer lets attackers halt mail CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-114474 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-114474 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-q9cg-xjph-9q7j · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences