CVE-2026-67194: svarshavchik Courier IMAP · Uncontrolled Recursion
Affects svarshavchik Courier IMAPSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.1 High : upgrade to 6.0.1 soon.
Data as of 28 Oct 2026, 05:11 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 45% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 6.0.1, 2.0.2
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 29 Jul 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade Courier to 6.0.1 (IMAP) or 2.0.2 (Mail Server).
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| svarshavchikCourier IMAP | Affected
| Fixed in– |
| svarshavchikCourier Mail Server | Affected
| Fixed in– |
GitHubCourier IMAPpkg:github/Courier IMAPOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
GitHubCourier Mail Serverpkg:github/Courier Mail ServerOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
AI-suggested
If you cannot patch yet, restrict authenticated user capabilities where possible and monitor for unusual SEARCH command usage patterns.
Description
Courier IMAP before 6.0.1 and Courier Mail Server before 2.0.2 allow authenticated IMAP users to crash the imapd process via deeply nested parenthesized SEARCH queries. The SEARCH command parser (alloc_search_key in searchinfo.C) recursively descends on nested parenthesized groups through a mutual recursion chain with alloc_search_andlist() and alloc_search_notkey(), with no depth limit. Courier IMAP has no overall command line length limit, making exploitation trivial. A single IMAP command with ~2500 nested parentheses overflows the 8MB default stack, causing SIGSEGV.
References
- github.com/svarshavchik/courier/releases/tag/courier-imap%2F6.0.1%2F20260627214444 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/svarshavchik/courier/releases/tag/courier%2F2.0.2%2F20260627214309 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/svarshavchik/courier-libs/commit/b5b5581aabea3efadf5e2944947ff0214aa3533e (opens in a new tab)
- packages.debian.org/sid/courier-imap (opens in a new tab)
- vulncheck.com/advisories/courier-imap-mail-server-stack-overflow-dos-via-nested-search-queries (opens in a new tab)