dbcve.org
Cleartext TransmissionWeakness · CWE-319

CVE-2024-50624

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-10-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
64/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
ispdbservice.cpp in KDE Kmail before 6.2.0 allows man-in-the-middle attackers to trigger use of an attacker-controlled mail server because cleartext HTTP is used for a URL such as http://autoconfig.example.com or http://example.com/.well-known/autoconfig for retrieving the configuration. This is related to kmail-account-wizard.

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 · moderate confidence

KDE Kmail's account wizard (kmail-account-wizard) uses cleartext HTTP to fetch mail server configuration from autoconfig URLs (e.g., http://autoconfig.example.com or http://example.com/.well-known/autoconfig). An attacker on the network path can perform a man-in-the-middle attack to intercept these requests and inject a malicious mail server configuration, causing Kmail to connect to an attacker-controlled server instead of the legitimate one.

MitigationThe fix requires implementing HTTPS with proper certificate validation for all autoconfiguration requests. As an interim measure, users should avoid configuring new email accounts on untrusted networks until Kmail is updated to version 6.2.0 or later.

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
Adjacent
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N

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 Kmail version
    Run 'kmail --version' or check your package manager for the kmail package version. On KDE, you can also check via System Settings > Applications > Kmail > About.
    Affected if The installed version is earlier than 6.2.0 (the fix version).
  2. Verify if account wizard was used
    Check if there are any locally stored email account configurations. Look in ~/.config/kmail2rc or ~/.config/kio_applet_email_pluginrc for account entries, or inspect the account list within Kmail's Settings > Configure Account dialog.
    Affected if Any email accounts exist that were likely configured using the account wizard (kmail-account-wizard).
  3. Inspect autoconfig URL usage in account settings
    Open Kmail account settings for each configured account. Look for the 'Incoming Mail' server configuration - check if the server was auto-detected via autoconfig. The autoconfig typically uses URLs like http://domain/.well-known/autoconfig or http://autoconfig.domain.
    Affected if Any account shows an incoming server that was obtained via HTTP (not HTTPS) autoconfiguration.
  4. Review network logs for HTTP autoconfig requests
    Monitor network traffic or check proxy/DNS logs for outbound HTTP connections to port 80 on ports 80/443 to autoconfig subdomains or .well-known paths, indicating prior use of the vulnerable mechanism.
    Affected if Historical HTTP requests to autoconfig URLs are visible in logs.

You are affected if you are running Kmail versions earlier than 6.2.0 and have configured email accounts using the account wizard with HTTP-based autoconfiguration.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

The fix requires implementing HTTPS with proper certificate validation for all autoconfiguration requests. As an interim measure, users should avoid configuring new email accounts on untrusted networks until Kmail is updated to version 6.2.0 or later.

Recommended fix High confidence

KDE Kmail 6.2.0 or later

  1. Upgrade KDE Kmail to version 6.2.0 or later to receive the security fix that enforces HTTPS for autoconfig URLs
  2. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the Kmail version (Help > About Kmail)

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,440
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,904.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-50624 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2024-50624 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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