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mutt — security advisory

Type: advisorySources: OSVAdvisory ID: DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3181

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.

Products
mutt
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
2.0.5-1
CVEs
CVE-2021-3181
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
1 Nov 2026, 00:34 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3181

core-osv · Original source

Published 19 Jan 2021, 15:15 UTC

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.

osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3181

mutt

Fixed versions: 2.0.5-1

mutt

Fixed versions: 2.0.5-1

mutt

Fixed versions: 2.0.5-1

Complete source record
{
  "id": "87f0876418dbeb68cc07e70dd65afa2550895166c7c84b1931b35065c11f3a46",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3181",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3181",
    "summary": "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.",
    "evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3181",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "mutt",
          "evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "2.0.5-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "mutt",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "2.0.5-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "mutt",
          "evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "2.0.5-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "medium",
    "structured": {
      "id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3181",
      "aliases": [
        "DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3181"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "2.0.5-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "mutt",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/mutt?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:12"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3181.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "2.0.5-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "mutt",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/mutt?arch=source&distro=trixie",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:13"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3181.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "2.0.5-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "mutt",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/mutt?arch=source&distro=forky",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:14"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3181.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-23T18:03:26.474529482Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "upstream": [
        "CVE-2021-3181"
      ],
      "references": [
        "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-3181"
      ]
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2021-3181",
        "evidence": "/upstream"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 421519,
  "published_at": "2021-01-19T15:15:12.327+00:00"
}