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Kerio MailserverApplication · Kerio

CVE-2008-0859

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-02-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Unspecified vulnerability in Kerio MailServer before 6.5.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via unspecified vectors related to decoding of uuencoded input, which triggers memory corruption.

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 confidence

Kerio MailServer before version 6.5.0 contains a memory corruption vulnerability in its uuencoded input decoding routine. Remote attackers can exploit this unspecified vector to trigger memory corruption, causing the mail server to crash and resulting in a denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade Kerio MailServer to version 6.5.0 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, consider network segmentation or restricting external access to the mail server's processing interfaces.

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
Kerio MailserverApplication
Affected:= 5.0= 5.1= 5.1.1= 5.6.3= 5.6.4= 5.6.5= 5.7.0= 5.7.1= 5.7.2= 5.7.3= 5.7.4= 5.7.5

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine installed Kerio MailServer version
    Check the installed version of Kerio MailServer by examining the program files directory, startup configuration, or running 'kmailserver --version' if available from command line. On Windows, check Add/Remove Programs or the service properties. On Linux, check the RPM/DEB package or run 'rpm -q kerio-mailserver' or 'dpkg -l kerio-mailserver'.
    Affected if The installed version is any of these: 5.0, 5.1, 5.1.1, 5.6.3, 5.6.4, 5.6.5, 5.7.0, 5.7.1, 5.7.2, 5.7.3, 5.7.4, 5.7.5, or any version prior to 6.5.0.
  2. Identify if mail processing service is running
    Check if the Kerio MailServer service is actively running. On Windows, use Services.msc or 'net start' command. On Linux, use 'service kerio-mailserver status' or 'ps aux | grep kerio'.
    Affected if The service is running and accepting mail connections.
  3. Verify uuencoded content processing is enabled
    Inspect the Kerio MailServer configuration files (typically mailserver.cfg or similar in the Kerio installation directory) for settings related to UUENCODE/uudecode processing. Check the mail server admin console or configuration for content decoding settings.
    Affected if UUENCODE decoding or automatic attachment processing is enabled in the mail server configuration.
  4. Assess network exposure of mail service
    Review firewall rules and Kerio MailServer listening ports (typically 25/SMTP, 110/POP3, 143/IMAP, 443/HTTPS) to determine if the mail server is accessible from external networks. Use 'netstat -an' or port scanning to identify exposed interfaces.
    Affected if The mail server is reachable from untrusted networks or external IP addresses on SMTP/POP3/IMAP ports.

The environment is affected if Kerio MailServer version is 5.0 through 5.7.5 (any version below 6.5.0) and the mail server is running with uuencoded content processing enabled and accessible over the network.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Kerio MailServer to version 6.5.0 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, consider network segmentation or restricting external access to the mail server's processing interfaces.

Fix this in Kerio Mailserver Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-0859 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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