CVE-2026-40017

MEDIUM
6.5
CVSS Score
Published: August 28, 2026 at 10:12 AM UTC
Updated: September 3, 2026 at 06:24 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorOX Dovecot

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Severity
MEDIUM6.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

An attacker that can send mail to a user can craft a message header whose values are chosen to collide in an internal hash table, which makes the IMAP THREAD command consume CPU disproportionate to the size of the message. This is a separate issue from CVE-2026-40014 and is not addressed by that fix. Whenever a mail client issues a THREAD command on the affected mailbox, this can cause degradation or denial of service for IMAP. Monitor system for abnormal CPU usage, kill the offending process and remove the offending message from the affected mailbox. Update to non-vulnerable version. No publicly available exploits are known.

Affected

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

2.3.0 ≤ v < 2.3.22.22.3.0 ≤ v < 2.4.53.0.0 ≤ v < 3.0.73.1.0 ≤ v < 3.1.62.3.03.0.03.1.0
Affected range stops below 2.3.22.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.4.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 3.0.7, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 3.1.6, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

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

CVSS

6.5MEDIUMOX
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED
CWE
CWE-400

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