CVE-2021-38542Apache James vulnerable to STARTTLS command injection (IMAP and POP3)
- 5.9MediumCVSS base score
- 2.3%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 16% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
Apache James prior to release 3.6.1 is vulnerable to a buffering attack relying on the use of the STARTTLS command. This can result in Man-in -the-middle command injection attacks, leading potentially to leakage of sensible information.
Timeline
ID reserved
By apache
- 5 months later
· 5 months later
Published
- 3 years later
· 3 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 | 3.1 | Medium5.9 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 2.3% · top 16% of all CVEs (12 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.9.
Affected products
Apache Software Foundation · Apache James
- affected Apache James – < 3.6.1
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- Mavenorg.apache.james:james-serverGHSA-84wg-rgp8-2hg4 (opens in a new tab)
What to do
Workaround: We recommend to upgrade to Apache James 3.6.1, which fixes this vulnerability. Furthermore, we recommend, if possible to dis-activate STARTTLS and rely solely on explicit TLS for mail protocols, including SMTP, IMAP and POP3.
References
References3
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/01/04/1 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- [oss-security] 20220104 CVE-2021-38542: Apache James vulnerable to STARTTLS command injection (IMAP and POP3) (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- [oss-security] 20220919 CVE-2022-28220: STARTTLS command injection in Apache JAMES (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_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-2022-0517 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-84wg-rgp8-2hg4 (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-2021-38542)Record last updated .