CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-0394

MediumCVSS 5.3
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.44%

38th percentile - higher than 38% of all known CVEs

Summary

When Dovecot is configured to use per-domain passwd files placed one path component above /etc, or a slash has been added to allowed characters, path traversal can occur if the domain component is a directory partial. This can inadvertently read /etc/passwd (or another path ending in passwd), potentially allowing incorrect authentication or making system users appear valid. No publicly available exploits are known.

Risk Assessment

A misconfiguration may allow an attacker to bypass authentication or disclose system account information, increasing the risk of unauthorized access.

Recommendation

Upgrade Dovecot to a fixed version or use a different authentication scheme; alternatively, place per-domain passwd files in a safe location such as /etc/dovecot/auth/%d.

Other vulnerabilities in Dovecot

See all
Original NVD description (English source)

When dovecot has been configured to use per-domain passwd files, and they are placed one path component above /etc, or slash has been added to allowed characters, path traversal can happen if the domain component is directory partial. This allows inadvertently reading /etc/passwd (or some other path which ends with passwd). If this file contains passwords, it can be used to authenticate wrongly, or if this is userdb, it can unexpectly make system users appear valid users. Upgrade to fixed version, or use different authentication scheme that does not rely on paths. Alternatively you can also ensure that the per-domain passwd files are in some other location, such as /etc/dovecot/auth/%d. No publicly available exploits are known.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS