CVE-2021-3181
mutt: Memory leak when parsing rfc822 group addresses
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · January 19, 2021
Updated · November 22, 2025
Description
rfc822.c in Mutt through 2.0.4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (mailbox unavailability) by sending email messages with sequences of semicolon characters in RFC822 address fields (aka terminators of empty groups). A small email message from the attacker can cause large memory consumption, and the victim may then be unable to see email messages from other persons.
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 3.1 · 6.5CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-401 · Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime