CVE-2005-1706
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedUnknown vulnerability in MailScanner 4.41.3 and earlier, related to "incomplete reporting of viruses in zip files," allows remote attackers to bypass virus detection.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceMailScanner 4.41.3 and earlier has incomplete virus detection capabilities when processing zip files, allowing malicious content embedded within archives to bypass antivirus scanning and reach end users.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 4.41.3= 4.39.1= 4.39.4= 4.39.6= 4.40.1= 4.40.2= 4.40.4= 4.40.6= 4.40.7= 4.40.8= 4.40.11= 4.41.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify MailScanner is installedRun 'which MailScanner' or check for the MailScanner binary in common paths like /usr/sbin/MailScannerAffected if MailScanner is not present on the system - the CVE only applies if MailScanner is installed and processing email
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Determine installed MailScanner versionRun 'MailScanner -V' or check version files in /usr/lib/MailScanner or /opt/MailScanner directoriesAffected if The version is 4.41.3 or earlier, or specifically 4.39.1, 4.39.4, 4.39.6, 4.40.1, 4.40.2, 4.40.4, 4.40.6, 4.40.7, 4.40.8, 4.40.11, or 4.41.1
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Check if zip file scanning is enabledInspect the MailScanner configuration file (typically MailScanner.conf) for settings related to archive scanning, specifically looking for 'Zip' or 'archive' keywords and whether scanning of zip attachments is turned onAffected if Zip file scanning is enabled in the configuration - the vulnerability only affects systems that scan zip archives, as the flaw allows malicious content within zip files to bypass antivirus detection
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Verify archive handling configurationCheck the MailScanner.conf for 'allow zip' or 'filetype' rules and inspect if 'dangerous content' scanning is active for archived filesAffected if The system is configured to process and scan zip file attachments - the incomplete detection only applies when MailScanner attempts to scan contents of zip archives
The system is affected if MailScanner version 4.41.3 or earlier is installed AND zip file scanning is enabled in the configuration, as the vulnerability allows malicious content inside zip archives to bypass antivirus detection.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade MailScanner to a version newer than 4.41.3 that properly handles virus detection in compressed archives, and verify that zip file scanning is functioning correctly after the upgrade.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,968.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-1706 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2005-1706 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data