Authenticated mail disruption via unchecked forwarding-host deletion
Published Apr 21, 2026 · Updated Apr 21, 2026
Improper access control in mailcow: dockerized before 2026-03b allows remote authenticated users to disrupt mail delivery through its API. The delete branch in data/web/inc/functions.fwdhost.inc.php accepts forwarding-host addresses without applying the administrator-role check used by add and edit actions. Any authenticated account can POST to /api/v1/delete/fwdhost; a configured Forwarding Host must exist, and its removal can interrupt delivery for servers that depend on it.
Summary
What happened
Improper access control in mailcow: dockerized before 2026-03b allows remote authenticated users to disrupt mail delivery through its API. The delete branch in data/web/inc/functions.fwdhost.inc.php accepts forwarding-host addresses without applying the administrator-role check used by add and edit actions. Any authenticated account can POST to /api/v1/delete/fwdhost; a configured Forwarding Host must exist, and its removal can interrupt delivery for servers that depend on it.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-40874
- Published
- Apr 21, 2026
- Updated
- Apr 21, 2026
- Vendor
- mailcow
- Product
- mailcow: dockerized
- Classifications
- CWE-284
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 21, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 21, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
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=< 2026-03b
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Authenticated forwarding-host deletion proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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