CVE-2017-16844
procmail: Heap-based buffer overflow in loadbuf function in formisc.c
Severity
ImportantRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · September 22, 2017
Updated · May 13, 2026
Description
A heap-based buffer overflow flaw was found in procmail's formail utility. A remote attacker could send a specially crafted email that, when processed by formail, could cause formail to crash or, possibly, execute arbitrary code as the user running formail.
Statement
This issue affects the versions of procmail as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is now in Extended Life Cycle phase of the support and maintenance life cycle. This issue is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. For additional information, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle: https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/.
This issue affects the versions of procmail as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 is now in Production 3 Phase of the support and maintenance life cycle. This has been rated as having Important security impact and is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. For additional information, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle: https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.0 · 7.5CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE-122 · Heap-based Buffer Overflow