CVE-2024-35187
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 · uneditedStalwart Mail Server is an open-source mail server. Prior to version 0.8.0, attackers who achieved Arbitrary Code Execution as the stalwart-mail user (including web interface admins) can gain complete root access to the system. Usually, system services are run as a separate user (not as root) to isolate an attacker with Arbitrary Code Execution to the current service. Therefore, other system services and the system itself remains protected in case of a successful attack. stalwart-mail runs as a separate user, but it can give itself full privileges again in a simple way, so this protection is practically ineffective. Server admins who handed out the admin credentials to the mail server, but didn't want to hand out complete root access to the system, as well as any attacked user when the attackers gained Arbitrary Code Execution using another vulnerability, may be vulnerable. Version 0.8.0 contains a patch for the issue.
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 confidenceStalwart Mail Server prior to 0.8.0 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where attackers with Arbitrary Code Execution as the stalwart-mail user can gain complete root access to the system. Although the service runs as a non-root user (stalwart-mail) for isolation, it can self-elevate to root privileges, defeating this security boundary.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 Stalwart Mail Server versionRun `stalwart-mail --version` or check the installed package version using your package manager (dpkg -l stalwart-mail, rpm -qi stalwart-mail, or cargo install --list)Affected if The installed version is below 0.8.0 (any version prior to 0.8.0 is vulnerable)
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Verify the service runs as a non-root userRun `ps aux | grep stalwart` or check the systemd service file to see which user the process runs asAffected if The service runs as the stalwart-mail user (this is the vulnerable configuration; if it runs as root, the privilege escalation has no additional impact)
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Confirm the service is exposed to network attackersCheck if the mail server is listening on SMTP, IMAP, or other network ports (netstat -tlnp | grep stalwart or ss -tlnp)Affected if The service is network-accessible and an attacker could achieve Arbitrary Code Execution as the stalwart-mail user to trigger the privilege escalation
You are affected if Stalwart Mail Server is installed at a version prior to 0.8.0 AND the service runs as the non-root stalwart-mail user AND the server is network-accessible to attackers who could achieve code execution as that user.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade Stalwart Mail Server to version 0.8.0 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, minimize admin access to the mail server and monitor for unauthorized access.
0.8.0
- Backup the current Stalwart Mail Server configuration and data directory
- Stop the stalwart-mail service
- Upgrade Stalwart Mail Server to version 0.8.0 or later
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version number
- Restart the stalwart-mail service
- Confirm the service is running properly and mail functionality works
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-35187 — 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-2024-35187 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data