Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2019-7524
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 · uneditedIn Dovecot before 2.2.36.3 and 2.3.x before 2.3.5.1, a local attacker can cause a buffer overflow in the indexer-worker process, which can be used to elevate to root. This occurs because of missing checks in the fts and pop3-uidl components.
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 confidenceIn Dovecot before 2.2.36.3 and 2.3.x before 2.3.5.1, a local attacker with access to the system can trigger a buffer overflow in the indexer-worker process due to missing bounds checks in the FTS (full-text search) and pop3-uidl components, enabling privilege escalation to root.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0= 9.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 14.04= 16.04= 18.04= 18.10< 2.2.36.3>= 2.3.0, < 2.3.5.1= 15.0= 42.3CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 installed Dovecot versionRun 'dovecot --version' or 'doveadm -v' to obtain the exact version numberAffected if The version is less than 2.2.36.3, or is 2.3.0 through 2.3.5.0 (i.e., version falls in < 2.2.36.3 OR >= 2.3.0 AND < 2.3.5.1)
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Confirm indexer-worker is availableCheck if the dovecot-lda or indexer-worker binary exists on the system (typically in /usr/lib/dovecot or /usr/libexec/dovecot) and review dovecot.conf for 'mail_plugins' or service definitions referencing 'indexer-worker'Affected if The indexer-worker process is present and configurable (this is the vulnerable component)
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Verify FTS (full-text search) is enabledSearch dovecot.conf (and included .conf files in /etc/dovecot/conf.d/) for 'fts' or 'fts =' directives, or check for 'mail_plugins' containing 'fts'Affected if FTS is explicitly enabled in the Dovecot configuration, as this is one of the two vulnerable code paths
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Verify pop3-uidl is configuredSearch dovecot.conf for 'pop3_uidl_format' or look for pop3 service configuration that handles UIDL commandsAffected if pop3-uidl functionality is present and configured (this is the second vulnerable code path)
You are affected if your Dovecot version is vulnerable (< 2.2.36.3 or >= 2.3.0 to < 2.3.5.1) AND either FTS or pop3-uidl is enabled in your configuration, as these components contain the exploitable buffer overflow in the indexer-worker process.
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 data2.2.36.32.3.5.1
Upgrade Dovecot to version 2.2.36.3, 2.3.5.1, or later. Since this is a local privilege escalation, limit local system access to trusted users and schedule the upgrade during a maintenance window with full testing.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,128.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-7524 — 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-2019-7524 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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