CVE-2007-6598
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 · uneditedDovecot before 1.0.10, with certain configuration options including use of %variables, does not properly maintain the LDAP+auth cache, which might allow remote authenticated users to login as a different user who has the same password.
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 confidenceDovecot versions before 1.0.10 with LDAP authentication using %variable configuration options do not properly maintain the auth cache. This can cause the cache to return credentials for a different user who shares the same password, allowing authenticated users to potentially log in as other 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<= 1.0.9CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/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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Determine Dovecot versionRun 'dovecot --version' or check the installed package version using your system's package manager (e.g., 'rpm -q dovecot' or 'dpkg -l dovecot')Affected if The installed version is 1.0.9 or earlier (any version before 1.0.10)
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Identify LDAP authentication configurationLocate the LDAP authentication configuration file, typically named dovecot-ldap.conf or defined within dovecot.conf under auth or passdb sections with ldap driverAffected if LDAP authentication is configured and in use for user authentication
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Check for %variable usage in LDAP authInspect the LDAP configuration file for any occurrence of the percent symbol followed by a variable name (e.g., %u, %n, %d, %s) in user iteration or password lookup directivesAffected if The configuration contains %variable references in LDAP auth queries (e.g., user_filter, pass_filter using %u or other variable expansions)
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Verify auth caching is enabledCheck dovecot.conf for auth_cache_size, auth_cache_ttl, or similar auth cache settings, or inspect whether the default caching behavior is in effectAffected if Auth caching is enabled (this is the default behavior in affected versions)
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Confirm LDAP and %variables are used togetherCross-reference that LDAP passdb/userdb configuration uses both the ldap driver AND contains %variable expansions in filter or base DN settingsAffected if LDAP authentication is active AND %variable expansion is present in the authentication queries
You are affected if running Dovecot version 1.0.9 or earlier with LDAP authentication configured that uses %variable expansions in the LDAP queries while auth caching is enabled.
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 Dovecot to version 1.0.10 or later, or if upgrading is not feasible, review and modify LDAP authentication configuration to disable problematic cache behaviors involving %variables.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2007-6598 — 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-2007-6598 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
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