What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities
CVE-2020-1946: Apache SpamAssassin has an OS Command Injection vulnerability
- Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
- Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
- EPSS: 6.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
- Public exploit or detection template: none known
- Published: 2021-03-25 · updated 2026-06-17
- Weakness: CWE-78
Description
In Apache SpamAssassin before 3.4.5, malicious rule configuration (.cf) files can be configured to run system commands without any output or errors. With this, exploits can be injected in a number of scenarios. In addition to upgrading to SA version 3.4.5, users should only use update channels or 3rd party .cf files from trusted places.
Affected products
- Apache Software Foundation Apache SpamAssassin: before 3.4.5 — fixed in 3.4.5
- Debian Linux: 9.0, 10.0
- Fedoraproject Fedora: 32, 33, 34
How to fix
Upgrade to a fixed version: Apache Software Foundation Apache SpamAssassin 3.4.5. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.
References
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/04/msg00000.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/7V2SBVTKVLFFT36ECJQ7TQ7KAQCQZDRZ/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JFBFRIG5TX23NF4ND6OAKKY7I6TLRCCP/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/NKAXYBKBMQOLIW6UKASJCAZRBOIYS4RL/
- https://s.apache.org/3r1wh
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202105-26
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4879
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/04/msg00000.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/7V2SBVTKVLFFT36ECJQ7TQ7KAQCQZDRZ/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JFBFRIG5TX23NF4ND6OAKKY7I6TLRCCP/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/NKAXYBKBMQOLIW6UKASJCAZRBOIYS4RL/
- https://s.apache.org/3r1wh
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