# CVE-2024-49394: Mutt: neomutt: in-reply-to email header field it not protected by cryptograpic signing

> Attackers can bypass cryptographic signing protections in Mutt and Neomutt by reusing unencrypted signed emails to impersonate senders.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 12 Nov 2024
- **Updated:** 26 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** CLSA-2026-1783434809, CLSA-2026-1783436433, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-49394, GHSA-q998-8jff-x3rg, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-49394

## What is CVE-2024-49394?

CVE-2024-49394 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux, published on 12 Nov 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In mutt and neomutt the In-Reply-To email header field is not protected by cryptographic signing which allows an attacker to reuse an unencrypted but signed email message to impersonate the original sender.

Weakness: CWE-347 (Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-49394?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Mutt Mutt, Neomutt Neomutt, Redhat Enterprise Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-49394?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-49394 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-49394 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Enterprise Linux

- [CVE-2021-32055](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32055/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2006-3242](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-3242/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2005-2642](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2005-2642/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2004-0078](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0078/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2003-0299](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0299/): Integer overflow in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-49394 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-49394 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux, published on 12 Nov 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-49394 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Redhat Enterprise Linux. 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-2024-49394/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49394/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-49394
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-49394
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-49394

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49394/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.