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FetchmailApplication

CVE-2010-0562

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-02-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
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
The sdump function in sdump.c in fetchmail 6.3.11, 6.3.12, and 6.3.13, when running in verbose mode on platforms for which char is signed, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via an SSL X.509 certificate containing non-printable characters with the high bit set, which triggers a heap-based buffer overflow during escaping.

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 confidence

Heap-based buffer overflow in fetchmail's sdump function when verbose mode is enabled on platforms where char is signed. Malicious SSL X.509 certificates containing non-printable characters with the high bit set trigger overflow during character escaping, allowing potential code execution or denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade fetchmail to version 6.3.14 or later. As a workaround, avoid running fetchmail in verbose mode (-v flag) when connecting to untrusted servers.

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
FetchmailApplication
Affected:= 6.3.11= 6.3.12= 6.3.13

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check installed fetchmail version
    Run 'fetchmail --version' or 'fetchmail -V' to see the version number
    Affected if Version is 6.3.11, 6.3.12, or 6.3.13
  2. Check if verbose mode is enabled in fetchmail configuration
    Examine fetchmailrc configuration files for 'set verbose' or check command-line invocations for -v flag
    Affected if Verbose mode is enabled (either via 'set verbose' in config or -v on command line)
  3. Check if fetchmail connects to SSL/IMAPS/POP3S servers
    Review fetchmailrc for 'ssl' or 'sslproto' options, or check for IMAPS (port 993) or POP3S (port 995) connections
    Affected if Fetchmail is configured to use SSL/TLS connections to remote servers

You are affected if you run fetchmail version 6.3.11-6.3.13 with verbose mode enabled while connecting to SSL servers that could present malicious certificates.

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 fetchmail to version 6.3.14 or later. As a workaround, avoid running fetchmail in verbose mode (-v flag) when connecting to untrusted servers.

Fix this in Fetchmail Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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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-2010-0562 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • 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