CVE-2005-0021
Multiple buffer overflows in Exim before 4.43 may allow attackers to execute arbitrary code via (1) an IPv6 address with more than 8…
- 7.2HighCVSS base score
- 2.6%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 14% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 2Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
Multiple buffer overflows in Exim before 4.43 may allow attackers to execute arbitrary code via (1) an IPv6 address with more than 8 components, as demonstrated using the -be command line option, which triggers an overflow in the host_aton function, or (2) the -bh command line option or dnsdb PTR lookup, which triggers an overflow in the dns_build_reverse function.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list 2 Exploit-DB entries for it.
Show the exploits2
Exploit-DB2 entries
- Exim 4.41 - 'dns_build_reverse' Local Read Emails (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 1009local, linuxpublished 25 May 2005Verified
- Exim 4.41 - 'dns_build_reverse' Local Buffer Overflow (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 756local, linuxpublished 15 Jan 2005Verified
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 2 days later
· 2 days later
Published
- 20 years later
· 20 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 2.0 | High7.2 | AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 2.6% · top 14% of all CVEs (11 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.2.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References10
- 20050107 Exim host_aton() Buffer Overflow Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_IDEFENSEx_transferred
- VU#132992 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_CERT-VNx_transferred
- DSA-635 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- http://ftp6.us.freebsd.org/pub/mail/exim/ChangeLogs/ChangeLog-4.44 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- DSA-637 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- 20050114 Exim dns_buld_reverse() Buffer Overflow Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_IDEFENSEx_transferred
- RHSA-2005:025 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATx_transferred
- GLSA-200501-23 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOOx_transferred
- [exim] 20050104 2 smallish security issues (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:10347 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entrysignaturex_refsource_OVALx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2005-0022 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2005-0021)Record last updated .