CVE-2023-26490

mailcow is vulnerable to shell command injection via xoauth2 authentication in imapsync​

HIGH
8.8
CVSS Score
Published: March 3, 2023 at 11:37 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 05:43 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorMailcow

Using mailcow-dockerized by mailcow?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect mailcow-dockerized - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available
Severity
HIGH8.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

mailcow is a dockerized email package, with multiple containers linked in one bridged network. The Sync Job feature - which can be made available to standard users by assigning them the necessary permission - suffers from a shell command injection. A malicious user can abuse this vulnerability to obtain shell access to the Docker container running dovecot. The imapsync Perl script implements all the necessary functionality for this feature, including the XOAUTH2 authentication mechanism. This code path creates a shell command to call openssl. However, since different parts of the specified user password are included without any validation, one can simply execute additional shell commands. Notably, the default ACL for a newly-created mailcow account does not include the necessary permission. The Issue has been fixed within the 2023-03 Update (March 3rd 2023). As a temporary workaround the Syncjob ACL can be removed from all mailbox users, preventing from creating or changing existing Syncjobs.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 2023-03_dockerized
Affected range stops below 2023-03, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-78

Get alerted

Stop reading CVE feeds looking for your own stack

Track the products you run and VulnTracker tells you when a new CVE affects them — with what is known about fixing it, and nothing about the rest.

Free plan, no card