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Findings

CVE-2010-4345

Exim Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Published Dec 14, 2010 · updated Jun 16, 2026 · exim exim

Exim 4.72 and earlier allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging the ability of the exim user account to specify an alternate configuration file with a directive that contains arbitrary commands, as demonstrated by the spool_directory directive.

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

No public source repository is identified for this product.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Dec 14, 2010 · Catalog

    Detected

    Exim 4.72 and earlier allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging the ability of the exim user account to specify an alternate configuration file with a directive that contains arbitrary commands, as demonstrated by the spool_directory directive.

  2. Mar 25, 2022 · CISA KEV

    Known exploited

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  3. Apr 15, 2022 · CISA KEV

    Remediation due

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  4. Jun 16, 2026 · Catalog

    Updated

    Exim 4.72 and earlier allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging the ability of the exim user account to specify an alternate configuration file with a directive that contains arbitrary commands, as demonstrated by the spool_directory directive.

Required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

CISA due date Apr 15, 2022

Affected

  • cpe canonical/ubuntu linux6.06
  • cpe canonical/ubuntu linux8.04
  • cpe canonical/ubuntu linux9.10
  • cpe debian/debian linux5.0
  • cpe exim/eximversion unspecified
  • cpe opensuse/opensuse11.1
  • cpe opensuse/opensuse11.2
  • cpe opensuse/opensuse11.3
  • vendor Exim Eximversion unspecified

Sources

  • CISA KEVConfirmed exploitationCVE-2010-4345

    Exim allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging the ability of the exim user account to specify an alternate configuration file with a directive that contains arbitrary commands.

    cisa.gov
  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2010-4345

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2010-4345

    30-day exploitation probability 18.0%

    first.org
  • Exploit DatabasePublic exploit reference16925

    Public archive entry. The exploit body is not stored here.

    exploit-db.com
  • Metasploit ModulesPublic exploit moduleexploit_unix/smtp/exim4_string_format

    Public module reference (excellent). Module source is not copied into this catalog.

    rapid7.com
  • NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2010-4345

    Exim 4.72 and earlier allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging the ability of the exim user account to specify an alternate configuration file with a directive that contains arbitrary commands, as demonstrated by the spool_directory directive.

    nvd.nist.gov

References