CVE-2018-6789 — Exim Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

• Documented patch — git.exim.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

CISA required action CISA

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

US federal deadline: May 3, 2022 — passed 1626 day(s) ago

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Exim Exim).
2. Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
3. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
4. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
5. EPSS ahead of 100% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
6. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-120 · Classic Buffer Overflow

Other CVEs with this weakness →

CISA KEV details CISA

CISA lists a CVE once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.

CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a reference date.

Public exploits, PoCs and detection templates

Public code that demonstrates or tests the flaw raises the odds of mass exploitation — and Nuclei templates help find vulnerable assets in your environment.

Warning: public PoCs are sometimes disguised malware. Use them only for authorized testing in an isolated environment. This portal does not host exploit code — it only points to the sources.

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 82.14%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

• Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
• Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
• Hunt retroactively in logs from before Nov 3, 2021 (KEV listing): exploitation may have started earlier.

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

• 2026
• SSVC assessment updated
  Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• Record published
  Oct 13, 2026
• Fix documented
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Affected products added · exim/exim, debian/debian linux, canonical/ubuntu linux
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• CVSS changed · 9.8
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Source status changed · → Analyzed
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Added to CISA KEV (detected)
  Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
• Record created in this database
  Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
• 2021
• Added to CISA KEV catalog
  Nov 2, 2021 · CISA
• 2018
• CVE published
  Feb 8, 2018 · mitre

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

• 2× References added · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
• 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

20 on the record

• exim.org/static/doc/security/CVE-2018-6789.txt
  Vendor Advisory, x_refsource_CONFIRM, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• git.exim.org/exim.git/commit/cf3cd306062a08969c41a1cdd32c6855f1abecf1
  Patch, x_refsource_CONFIRM, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
  US Government Resource, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• www.securitytracker.com/id/1040461
  Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, vdb-entry, x_refsource_SECTRACK, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/02/msg00009.html
  Mailing List, Third Party Advisory, mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/02/10/2
  Mailing List, Third Party Advisory, x_refsource_CONFIRM, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44571/
  Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• usn.ubuntu.com/3565-1/
  Third Party Advisory, vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/02/07/2
  Mailing List, Third Party Advisory, mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• devco.re/blog/2018/03/06/exim-off-by-one-RCE-exploiting-CVE-2018-6789-en
  GitHub Security Advisories
• packetstormsecurity.com/files/162959/Exim-base64d-Buffer-Overflow.html
  Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, x_refsource_MISC, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45671
  GitHub Security Advisories
• github.com/advisories/GHSA-868p-wr6f-7jfr
  GitHub Security Advisories
• usn.ubuntu.com/3565-1
  GitHub Security Advisories
• www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45671/
  Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44571
  GitHub Security Advisories
• www.securityfocus.com/bid/103049
  Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, vdb-entry, x_refsource_BID, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• devco.re/blog/2018/03/06/exim-off-by-one-RCE-exploiting-CVE-2018-6789-en/
  Exploit, Third Party Advisory, x_refsource_MISC, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-6789
  GitHub Security Advisories
• www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4110
  Mailing List, Third Party Advisory, vendor-advisory, x_refsource_DEBIAN, NIST National Vulnerability Database

Elsewhere on this site

Related CVEs (same products)

• Medium CVE-2026-94057 Exim before 4.100.1 allows SMTP smuggling in which the received message does not match… 26d
• High CVE-2026-94056 Use of Uninitialized Resource in Exim 26d
• Medium CVE-2026-94055 Use After Free in Exim 26d
• Medium CVE-2026-94054 Out-of-bounds Write in Exim 26d
• High CVE-2026-12996 A use-after-free in OpenVPN 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows remote... Jul 30, 2026
• High CVE-2026-66141 Exim before 4.99.5 allows .forward privilege escalation because force_command for a pipe… Jul 24, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

• No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
• No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
• No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2018-6789 is "Exim Buffer Overflow Vulnerability", rated Critical. It affects Ubuntu Linux (Canonical); versions are in the scope table. It is in CISA KEV: there is evidence of real-world exploitation. CVSS 9.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 82.14% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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