CVE-2019-13612
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 · uneditedMDaemon Email Server 19 through 20.0.1 skips SpamAssassin checks by default for e-mail messages larger than 2 MB (and limits checks to 10 MB even with special configuration), which is arguably inconsistent with currently popular message sizes. This might interfere with risk management for malicious e-mail, if a customer deploys a server with sufficient resources to scan large messages.
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 confidenceMDaemon Email Server versions 19 through 20.0.1 implement a hardcoded size threshold that bypasses SpamAssassin filtering for emails exceeding 2 MB by default (configurable up to 10 MB maximum). This design limitation allows large malicious emails to evade spam detection entirely, as the server skips the SpamAssassin analysis for messages above this threshold.
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= 19CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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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Check MDaemon version installedOpen the MDaemon GUI, go to Help > About, or check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Alt-N Technologies\MDaemon\VersionAffected if Version is 19.x through 20.0.1 (check if version falls within 19.0.0 to 20.0.1 range)
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Verify SpamAssassin integration is enabledIn MDaemon, navigate to Security > Spam Filter > Settings, or check the spam.ini configuration file in the MDaemon\app folder for SpamAssassinEnabled=1Affected if SpamAssassin is enabled (the bypass only matters if SpamAssassin is actually in use)
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Locate the Spam Filter size threshold settingIn MDaemon GUI, go to Security > Spam Filter > Settings and look for the 'Skip SpamAssassin for messages larger than' option, or examine the spam.ini file for a MaxSize entryAffected if Threshold is set to a value of 2 MB or higher (default is 2 MB, up to 10 MB configurable - any non-zero value creates the bypass condition)
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Confirm the threshold is at default or elevated settingIf the threshold setting is not visible in the GUI, review the spam.ini file in the MDaemon\app directory for the SpamAssassinMaxSize parameterAffected if SpamAssassinMaxSize is greater than 0 (any value enables the bypass for messages exceeding that size)
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Identify if email traffic includes messages over the thresholdReview MDaemon logs (in MDaemon\Logs\ directory) or message tracking for messages larger than the configured threshold, or use the Queue Viewer to inspect message sizesAffected if The organization processes or has processed email attachments/messages exceeding the configured threshold (2 MB by default)
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Check if alternative spam filtering is configuredReview Security > Spam Filter settings to see if third-party gateway filtering, content filters, or other anti-spam solutions are enabled alongside or instead of SpamAssassinAffected if No compensating spam controls exist for messages that bypass SpamAssassin due to size threshold
You are affected if running MDaemon 19.x-20.0.1 with SpamAssassin enabled and the size threshold is set to any value greater than 0, allowing large emails to bypass spam detection entirely.
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 dataOrganizations should review their email traffic patterns to determine exposure, configure the maximum size limit if possible within the 10 MB constraint, consider upgrading to patched versions, and implement compensating controls such as additional gateway scanning or attachment sandboxing for large messages.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-13612 — 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-2019-13612 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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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.
- 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