CVE-2010-4345: Exim Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2010-4345 is a high (CVSS 7.8) Command Injection vulnerability in Exim. It is known to be exploited: CISA lists it, first on 25-03-2022. EPSS estimates a 17.96% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 97.1% of scored vulnerabilities. 2 public exploits are recorded.

Timeline

1. 14-12-2010
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 25-03-2022
   Added to CISA KEVExim Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
3. 15-04-2022
   CISA remediation dueApply updates per vendor instructions.
4. 22-10-2025
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

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.

• CWE-77Improper 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.