Unauthenticated administrator takeover via unchecked password reset
Published Jan 22, 2026 · Updated Jan 22, 2026
Authentication bypass in SmarterTools SmarterMail before 100.0.9511 allows remote attackers to reset a system administrator password. The anonymous force-reset-password endpoint trusts IsSysAdmin and writes NewPassword without authenticating the caller or validating OldPassword. Knowledge or guessing of an administrator username is the only gate, after which the reset credential grants full application administration and command execution as SYSTEM or root.
Summary
What happened
Authentication bypass in SmarterTools SmarterMail before 100.0.9511 allows remote attackers to reset a system administrator password. The anonymous force-reset-password endpoint trusts IsSysAdmin and writes NewPassword without authenticating the caller or validating OldPassword. Knowledge or guessing of an administrator username is the only gate, after which the reset credential grants full application administration and command execution as SYSTEM or root.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-23760
- Published
- Jan 22, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 22, 2026
- Vendor
- SmarterTools Inc.
- Product
- SmarterMail
- Classifications
- CWE-288, T1098
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 22, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 22, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
- Jan 26, 2026Exploitation reportedCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog entry
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <100.0.9511
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
View daily counts
| Reporting day | Unique IPs |
|---|---|
| Sep 10, 2026 | Unavailable |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 1 |
| Sep 12, 2026 | Unavailable |
| Sep 13, 2026 | Unavailable |
| Sep 14, 2026 | Unavailable |
| Sep 15, 2026 | 1 |
| Sep 16, 2026 | Unavailable |
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- watchTowr force-reset-password proof of conceptfunctional · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Reported exploitation
- CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog entryknown exploited catalog
- Huntress mass exploitation observationsreported exploitation
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
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