CVE-2020-28008 Privilege escalation in n/a
An attacker can execute arbitrary commands with root privileges by writing a crafted recipient address to the Exim spool directory.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2020-28008?
CVE-2020-28008 is a high-severity vulnerability in Exim Exim, published on 6 May 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Exim 4 before 4.94.2 allows Execution with Unnecessary Privileges. Because Exim operates as root in the spool directory (owned by a non-root user), an attacker can write to a /var/spool/exim4/input spool header file, in which a crafted recipient address can indirectly lead to command execution.
Weakness: CWE-269
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-28008?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Exim Exim.
How do I fix CVE-2020-28008?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Is CVE-2020-28008 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-28008 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Exim Exim
Sources
Also known as CLEANSTART-2025-CO93148, DEBIAN-CVE-2020-28008, GHSA-24mx-4mj6-v64q, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-28008.