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CVE-2026-40686
In Exim before 4.99.2, when utf8 operators are enabled, there is an out-of-bounds read if large UTF-8 trailing characters are present…
- 3.7LowCVSS base score
- 0.25%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 84% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
In Exim before 4.99.2, when utf8 operators are enabled, there is an out-of-bounds read if large UTF-8 trailing characters are present (malformed UTF-8 header data). Information might be divulged within an error message produced during handling of an unrelated e-mail message.
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 16 days later
· 16 days later
Published
- 1 day later
· 1 day 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mitreCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | Low3.7 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | Medium5.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.25% · top 84% of all CVEs (12 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
Loading the EPSS history…
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Low 3.7.
Affected products
References
References4
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/30/21 (opens in a new tab)
- https://exim.org/static/doc/security/cve-2026-04.1/CVE2026-40686.assessment (opens in a new tab)
- https://code.exim.org/exim/exim/commit/f2570bde16fb4d4a1242ff363a4c4eecf6372efc (opens in a new tab)
- https://exim.org/static/doc/security/CVE-2026-40686.txt (opens in a new tab)
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-2026-26444 (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-2026-40686)Record last updated .