CVE-2005-2070
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 · uneditedThe ClamAV Mail fILTER (clamav-milter) 0.84 through 0.85d, when used in Sendmail using long timeouts, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service by keeping an open connection, which prevents ClamAV from reloading.
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 · high confidenceThe clamav-milter component in ClamAV versions 0.84 through 0.85d contains a denial of service vulnerability where remote attackers can prevent ClamAV from reloading by maintaining an open connection. This blocks the reload mechanism when the milter is used with Sendmail configured with long timeouts.
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= 8.8.8= 8.9.0= 8.9.1= 8.9.2= 8.9.3= 8.10= 8.10.1= 8.10.2= 8.11.0= 8.11.1= 8.11.2= 8.11.3CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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 clamav-milter is installedCheck if the clamav-milter binary exists on the system, typically at /usr/sbin/clamav-milter or via command: which clamav-milterAffected if clamav-milter binary is present on the system
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Determine installed ClamAV versionRun clamd --version or clamav-milter --version to obtain the exact version number, then compare against the affected range 0.84 through 0.85dAffected if The installed ClamAV version falls within 0.84 to 0.85d inclusive
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Confirm Sendmail integration with clamav-milterInspect Sendmail configuration files (typically /etc/sendmail.cf or /etc/mail/sendmail.mc) for milter configuration lines referencing clamav-milterAffected if Sendmail is configured to use clamav-milter as a mail filter
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Check for long-runningclamav-milter connectionsUse netstat or ss commands to inspect active connections to the clamav-milter port (typically port 3310 by default) and identify any connections that have remained open for unusually long periodsAffected if There are sustained connections to clamav-milter that could be blocking the reload mechanism
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Verify Sendmail timeout configurationExamine Sendmail configuration for Timeout.milter parameters to determine if long timeout values are set that would allow an attacker to block reload by holding a connection openAffected if Sendmail is configured with long milter timeout values that permit extended connection duration
Your environment is affected if clamav-milter is running with ClamAV versions 0.84-0.85d and Sendmail is configured to use it with extended timeout settings that permit sustained connections.
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 dataReduce Sendmail timeout values to limit connection duration, implement connection rate limiting on the clamav-milter, or upgrade to a patched version of ClamAV.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-2070 — 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-2005-2070 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
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