CVE-2021-32749 MEDIUM

CVE-2021-32749: Possible RCE vulnerability in mailing action using mailutils (mail-whois)

Vendor Fail2Ban
Product fail2ban
Weakness CWE-78
Published July 16, 2021
Last update August 3, 2024

CVSS base score

6.1/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity High
Privileges required None
User interaction Required
Confidentiality None
Integrity High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N

What the vulnerability does

01Description

fail2ban is a daemon to ban hosts that cause multiple authentication errors. In versions 0.9.7 and prior, 0.10.0 through 0.10.6, and 0.11.0 through 0.11.2, there is a vulnerability that leads to possible remote code execution in the mailing action mail-whois. Command `mail` from mailutils package used in mail actions like `mail-whois` can execute command if unescaped sequences (`\n~`) are available in "foreign" input (for instance in whois output). To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would need to insert malicious characters into the response sent by the whois server, either via a MITM attack or by taking over a whois server. The issue is patched in versions 0.10.7 and 0.11.3. As a workaround, one may avoid the usage of action `mail-whois` or patch the vulnerability manually.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

July 16, 2021 CVE published
August 3, 2024 Record updated