James ServerApplication · Apache
CVE-2024-37358
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 · uneditedSimilarly to CVE-2024-34055, Apache James is vulnerable to denial of service through the abuse of IMAP literals from both authenticated and unauthenticated users, which could be used to cause unbounded memory allocation and very long computations Version 3.7.6 and 3.8.2 restrict such illegitimate use of IMAP literals.
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 confidenceApache James IMAP server is vulnerable to denial of service through abuse of IMAP literals, allowing both authenticated and unauthenticated users to send specially crafted requests that cause unbounded memory allocation and very long computations, similar to CVE-2024-34055.
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
James ServerApplication
< 3.7.6>= 3.8.0, < 3.8.2CVSS 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:3.1/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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Identify Apache James Server versionCheck the James server version by examining the startup logs, the lib/ directory for jar file versions, or run: java -jar james-server.jar --version. Compare against affected ranges: < 3.7.6 or >= 3.8.0, < 3.8.2Affected if The installed version falls within < 3.7.6 or >= 3.8.0, < 3.8.2
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Confirm IMAP service is enabledVerify the IMAP protocol is enabled in the James configuration. Check conf/imapserver.xml or the active configuration for imapEnabled=true, and verify the IMAP port (default 143) is listeningAffected if IMAP service is enabled and listening on a network port
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Check IMAP network exposureRun netstat or ss to confirm port 143 (IMAP) or 993 (IMAPS) is open and bound to a network interface accessible to users. Example: netstat -tlnp | grep -E ':(143|993)'Affected if IMAP ports are exposed to network traffic, allowing specially crafted literal requests to reach the server
The environment is affected if running Apache James version less than 3.7.6 or between 3.8.0 and 3.8.2 (exclusive) with IMAP service enabled and network-accessible.
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 · scoped3.7.63.8.2
Upgrade Apache James to version 3.7.6 or 3.8.2 which restricts illegitimate use of IMAP literals.
3.7.6 or 3.8.2 (or later stable releases)
- Identify the current Apache James version by checking server logs or configuration files
- If running version < 3.7.6, upgrade to version 3.7.6 or later (preferably latest 3.7.x release)
- If running version >= 3.8.0 but < 3.8.2, upgrade to version 3.8.2 or later (preferably latest 3.8.x release)
- Review Apache James upgrade documentation for your version
- Backup current configuration and data before upgrading
- Perform the upgrade following official Apache James upgrade procedures
- Verify the upgrade was successful and test IMAP functionality
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in James Server
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,648.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-37358 — 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-2024-37358 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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