Exim before 4.92.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code as root via a trailing backslash.
CVE-2019-15846
This critical-severity CVE scores 9.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 35.7%, top 2% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 9.8
- EG Score
- 9.8(medium)
- EG Risk
- 65(Track*)EG Risk 65/100SSVC: Track*
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).
How it’s computedSeverity98% × 45%Exploitation40% × 40%Automatability30% × 15%Action: Watch closely — could escalate to Attend. - EPSS PROB
- 36%
- EPSS %ILE
- 98%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
September 6, 2019
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
Advisory Details (9)
Auto-updated Aug 16, 2026oss-security - Re: Re: CVE-2019-15846: Exim - local or remote attacker can execute programs with root privileges.
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/08/1oss-security - Re: Sv: [exim] CVE-2019-15846: Exim - local or remote attacker can execute programs with root privileges
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/07/2oss-security - Re: Sv: [exim] CVE-2019-15846: Exim - local or remote attacker can execute programs with root privileges
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/07/1oss-security - Re: Re: CVE-2019-15846: Exim - local or remote attacker can execute programs with root privileges.
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/06/8oss-security - Sv: [exim] CVE-2019-15846: Exim - local or remote attacker can execute programs with root privileges
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/06/6oss-security - Re: CVE-2019-15846: Exim - local or remote attacker can execute programs with root privileges.
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/06/5oss-security - Re: CVE-2019-15846: Exim - local or remote attacker can execute programs with root privileges.
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/06/4oss-security - Re: CVE-2019-15846: Exim - local or remote attacker can execute programs with root privileges.
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/09/06/2Patch Availability(2)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fixed in / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | exim4-base (4.82-3ubuntu2.4+esm1) @ trusty | 2026-05-27 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | eximon4 (4.86.2-2ubuntu2.5) @ xenial | 2026-05-27 | ubuntu |
Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.
Affected Packages
(7 across 7 ecosystems)
Debian:10(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| exim4 | 4.92-8, 4.92-8+deb10u1, 4.92-8+deb10u1~bpo9+1, 4.92-8+deb10u2~bpo9+1 | 4.92-8+deb10u2 | — |
Debian:11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| exim4 | — | 4.92.1-3 | — |
Debian:12(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| exim4 | — | 4.92.1-3 | — |
Debian:13(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| exim4 | — | 4.92.1-3 | — |
Debian:14(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| exim4 | — | 4.92.1-3 | — |
Debian:8(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| exim4 | 4.84-8 ... 4.84.2-2+deb8u5 (11 versions) | 4.84.2-2+deb8u6 | — |
Debian:9(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| exim4 | 4.89-2 ... 4.89-2+deb9u5 (8 versions) | 4.89-2+deb9u6 | — |
All Vendor Advisories
(2)
Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 7× in last 7d / 24× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-08-21 15:14 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-20 22:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-19 17:00 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-18 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-16 14:52 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-16 02:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-15 01:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-13 21:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-12 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-07 16:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-06 01:21 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-05 19:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-04 15:05 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-04 10:33 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-02 02:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-01 04:12 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-30 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-28 15:32 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-26 14:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-25 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-24 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-24 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-23 01:41 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 22:20 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 60 moreShow fewer
- 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-20 07:04 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-13 22:27 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-13 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-13 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-12 05:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-11 08:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-09 19:06 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-05 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-03 00:35 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-02 16:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 19:13 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-11 13:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-11 13:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-29 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 14:54 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-27 14:54 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-05-27 14:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
Publicly available exploits
(1 reference)Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 GitHub PoC). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- GitHub PoCsynacktiv/Exim-CVE-2019-15846First seen Oct 9, 2019
PoC materials to exploit CVE-2019-15846
Open source ↗
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2019-15846?
When was CVE-2019-15846 disclosed?
Is CVE-2019-15846 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-15846?
How do I remediate CVE-2019-15846?
Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2019-15846
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