IMAP login denial via excessive ID parameters
Published Aug 28, 2026 · Updated Aug 28, 2026
Resource exhaustion in OX Dovecot CE and Pro core allows remote attackers to interrupt IMAP logins via a pre-login ID command. The imap-login process accepts excessive ID parameters before authentication and consumes disproportionate memory and CPU while parsing them. A network-reachable IMAP service is sufficient; out-of-memory handling can terminate the shared login process and every connection it handles.
Summary
What happened
Resource exhaustion in OX Dovecot CE and Pro core allows remote attackers to interrupt IMAP logins via a pre-login ID command. The imap-login process accepts excessive ID parameters before authentication and consumes disproportionate memory and CPU while parsing them. A network-reachable IMAP service is sufficient; out-of-memory handling can terminate the shared login process and every connection it handles.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-42391
- Published
- Aug 28, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 28, 2026
- Vendor
- Open-Xchange GmbH
- Product
- OX Dovecot CE
- Classifications
- CWE-400, T1499
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 28, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 28, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=2.3.0 <2.4.5
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
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Your stack
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