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Fencer Intel
critical 9.8

CVE-2019-16928 kev in the critical feed json

Exim 4.92 through 4.92.2 allows remote code execution, a different vulnerability than CVE-2019-15846.

published 7y ago modified 4mo ago also EUVD-2019-7422

cvss
9.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Exploited
added 2022-03-03
epss
41.6%
EPSS 41.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 98%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Exim 4.92 through 4.92.2 allows remote code execution, a different vulnerability than CVE-2019-15846. There is a heap-based buffer overflow in string_vformat in string.c involving a long EHLO command.

Patch / fix

cisa required action Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  • exim4 Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 4.92.2-3

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2019-16928

  • exim openSUSE Tumbleweed 4.94.2-4.2
  • exim Package Hub 15 SP2 4.94.2-bp152.6.4.1
  • libspf2 Package Hub 15 SP2 1.2.10-bp152.5.1
  • exim Package Hub 15 SP1 4.94.2-bp151.2.4.1
  • libspf2 Package Hub 15 SP1 1.2.10-bp151.4.1
  • exim openSUSE Leap 15.2 4.94.2-lp152.8.3.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:10746-1openSUSE-SU-2021:0754-1openSUSE-SU-2021:0753-1openSUSE-SU-2021:0677-1

  • exim Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +12 more 4.92.2-r1
  • exim Alpine 3.9 4.92.3-r0

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2019-16928

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • exim Arch Linux 4.92.3-1

arch linux advisories AVG-1038

Is CVE-2019-16928 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

Check with Fencer

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2019-16928 updated cvss 9.8

exim: remotely triggerable buffer overflow in string_vformat()

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 exim
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Added to CISA KEV
  3. CISA patch deadline
  4. CISA SSVC: exploitation active

Known exploited

Added
4y ago
Patch by
2022-03-17 (4y ago)
Ransomware
Not known
Required action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Vendor, product
Exim, Exim Internet Mailer
CISA name
Exim Out-of-bounds Write Vulnerability

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Active, exploited in the wild
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total
Assessed
last yr.

Exploit prediction

41.64% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 98% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • openwall.com http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/28/1 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • openwall.com http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/28/2 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CISA ADP 3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA 3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 7.5 AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Classification

Weakness

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.