CVE-2019-10149 Exim Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) Improper Input Validation

What is CVE-2019-10149?

CVE-2019-10149 is a critical command injection vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 5 Jun 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A flaw was found in Exim versions 4.87 to 4.91 (inclusive). Improper validation of recipient address in deliver_message() function in /src/deliver.c may lead to remote command execution.

Weakness: CWE-78

Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-10149?

It affects 3 products.

Products include Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Exim Exim.

How do I fix CVE-2019-10149?

Apply the vendor's patch. US federal agencies must fix it by 10 Jul 2022.

Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.

Is CVE-2019-10149 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2019-10149 in the wild since at least 10 Jan 2022.

Public exploit code: 1 Metasploit module, 4 Exploit-DB entries and 19 proofs of concept on GitHub.

Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

• CVE-2020-11651 SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2020-7247 OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2019-16928 Exim Out-of-bounds Write Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2018-6789 Exim Buffer Overflow Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2015-2590 Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution Exploited Critical 9.8

All Canonical Ubuntu Linux vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as CLEANSTART-2025-SL34234, DEBIAN-CVE-2019-10149, DSA-4456-1, GHSA-5r7w-xvrp-rg22, UBUNTU-CVE-2019-10149, USN-4010-1 and 1 more.