Evidence used
- CISA confirms exploitation in the wild.
- Exploitation requires an existing local or physical foothold with privileges.
- EPSS is 17.96% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2010
CVE-2010-4345High confidence
Exim Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Exim · Exim
7.8HighCVSS 3.1
Patch now
Patch availableCISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2022-04-15 as the remediation due date.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityHigh→Operational priority:Critical, raised one band.upgradedsince 25 Mar 2022
Compensating controls
- Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
- Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
- Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Exim Exim and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Distribution package intelligence
4 package statesRelease-specific package status
Debian findings are scoped to the named distribution, release and source package. An absent finding does not mean a package is unaffected.
Repository candidate not checked
A published vendor fix does not prove that a matching update is enabled and installable on a particular asset. Confirm the local package candidate before scheduling remediation.
| Distribution release | Source package | Vendor state | Fixed version | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debian trixietrixie · source | exim4 | Vendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release. | 4.72-3 | Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 8 Oct 2026 |
| Debian bookwormbookworm · source | exim4 | Vendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release. | 4.72-3 | Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 8 Oct 2026 |
| Debian forkyforky · source | exim4 | Vendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release. | 4.72-3 | Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 8 Oct 2026 |
| Debian sidsid · source | exim4 | Vendor fix publishedDebian records a fixed source-package version for this release. | 4.72-3 | Debian Security Tracker ↗Source updated 8 Oct 2026 |
CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2022-04-15 as the remediation due date.
Patch available01
What, why and how
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.
What
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.
Why
Untrusted input reaches a command interpreter without sufficient validation or separation from command syntax.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
What
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.
Why
Untrusted input reaches a command interpreter without sufficient validation or separation from command syntax.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation Confirmed in the wild
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2022-03-25.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- local access → Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection') → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
- Attack surface
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low: a basic authenticated account is required
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-77 ↗
CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection'). The product constructs all or part of a command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended command when it is sent to a downstream component.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Patch available
- Affected
- n/a
- Action
- Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 14 Dec 2010 · Last source change 22 Oct 2025, 00:05 UTC · CWE-77 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection')
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-13
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2010-4314
Product sourceCISA KEV
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCISA ADP
NVD statusNVD enriched
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
- ENISA known-exploited stateENISA EUVD now records this CVE in its known-exploited dataset.ENISA EUVD ↗
- Before
- not listed in ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset
- After
- listed in ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset (EUVD-2010-4314)
- ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2010-4314 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.ENISA EUVD ↗
- Before
- not recorded
- After
- {"euvdId":"EUVD-2010-4314"}
- Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.CISA KEV ↗
- Before
- n/a: n/a · Fixed: An authoritative update reference is available, but the fixed version is not recorded in the structured CVE fields. Check the linked vendor advisory for the applicable release.
- After
- n/a · Fixed: An authoritative update reference is available, but the fixed version is not recorded in the structured CVE fields. Check the linked vendor advisory for the applicable release.
- Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: added patch: bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1044; added patch: bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=662012; removed vendor advisory: debian.org/dsa-2131; removed vendor advisory: debian.org/dsa-2154; 6 further additions; 3 further removals.lists.exim.org ↗
- Before
- vendor advisory: debian.org/dsa-2131 · vendor advisory: debian.org/dsa-2154 · vendor advisory: lists.opensuse.org/msg00003.html · 2 more references
- After
- patch: bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1044 · patch: bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=662012 · patch: lists.exim.org/20101209.172233.abcba158.en.html · 5 more references
- Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.CNA ↗
- Before
- n/a: n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
- After
- n/a: n/a · Fixed: An authoritative update reference is available, but the fixed version is not recorded in the structured CVE fields. Check the linked vendor advisory for the applicable release.
- Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Awaiting fix to Patch available.lists.exim.org ↗
- Before
- Awaiting fix
- After
- Patch available
- CVSS scoreCVSS scoring authority changed from CISA ADP to NIST NVD; the displayed base score remained 7.8.NIST NVD ↗
- Before
- 7.8 (CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP · CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
- After
- 7.8 (CVSS 3.1 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
- Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.CNA ↗
CVE published
Added to CISA KEV
Fixed release or patch reference recorded
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.