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Security advisory

Type: advisorySources: OSVCVE: CVE-2020-28896

Mutt before 2.0.2 and NeoMutt before 2020-11-20 did not ensure that $ssl_force_tls was processed if an IMAP server's initial server response was invalid. The connection was not properly closed, and the code could continue attempting to authenticate. This could result in authentication credentials being exposed on an unencrypted connection, or to a machine-in-the-middle.

Products
Not specified
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
Not specified
CVEs
CVE-2020-28896
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
1 Nov 2026, 09:05 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

CVE-2020-28896

core-osv · Original source

Published 23 Nov 2020, 19:15 UTC

Mutt before 2.0.2 and NeoMutt before 2020-11-20 did not ensure that $ssl_force_tls was processed if an IMAP server's initial server response was invalid. The connection was not properly closed, and the code could continue attempting to authenticate. This could result in authentication credentials being exposed on an unencrypted connection, or to a machine-in-the-middle.

osv:CVE-2020-28896
Complete source record
{
  "id": "581f406ce913a1aba4e8171087f6b855334ed293bd860bd927d0dab830c5737e",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-28896",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "CVE-2020-28896",
    "summary": "Mutt before 2.0.2 and NeoMutt before 2020-11-20 did not ensure that $ssl_force_tls was processed if an IMAP server's initial server response was invalid. The connection was not properly closed, and the code could continue attempting to authenticate. This could result in authentication credentials being exposed on an unencrypted connection, or to a machine-in-the-middle.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2020-28896",
    "products": [],
    "severity": "medium",
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      "aliases": [
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  "source_id": "core-osv",
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}