# CVE-2008-1218: Auth bypass in n/a

> Remote attackers can bypass password checks in Dovecot by injecting TAB characters into passwords when blocking passdbs are used, leading to unauthorized access.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 10 Mar 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CVE-2008-1271, DEBIAN-CVE-2008-1218, GHSA-g2xp-pqfg-wfq9

## What is CVE-2008-1218?

CVE-2008-1218 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Dovecot Dovecot, published on 10 Mar 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Argument injection vulnerability in Dovecot 1.0.x before 1.0.13, and 1.1.x before 1.1.rc3, when using blocking passdbs, allows remote attackers to bypass the password check via a password containing TAB characters, which are treated as argument delimiters that enable the skip_password_check field to be specified.

Weakness: CWE-255

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-1218?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Dovecot Dovecot.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-1218?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-1218 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-1218 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Dovecot IMAP 1.0.10 < 1.1rc2 - Remote Email Disclosure (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Dovecot Dovecot

- [CVE-2026-24031](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24031/): Auth bypass in OX Dovecot Pro (high 7.7)
- [CVE-2025-59032](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-59032/): Denial of service in OX Dovecot Pro (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2026-27858](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27858/): Denial of service in OX Dovecot Pro (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2021-29157](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-29157/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2020-10957](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10957/): Null dereference in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-1218 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-1218 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Dovecot Dovecot, published on 10 Mar 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-1218 exists.

Affected product: Dovecot Dovecot. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1218/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1218/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-1218
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-1218
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-1218

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1218/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.