hMailServer: Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity
CVE-2026-126623 is a high-severity inefficient algorithmic complexity vulnerability in hMailServer from Progressive Robot, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected hMailServer versions: 6.3.6 through 6.3.7. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.59% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of hMailServer you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Robot | hMailServer | 6.3.6 through 6.3.7 | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- NoneNo data is disclosed.
- Integrity
- NoneNothing can be modified.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. Scored by CNA (gitlab.com).
Official description
Inefficient algorithmic complexity in the JSON reader of Progressive Robot hMailServer 6.3.6 and 6.3.7 allows a remote attacker to hold the server's mail delivery threads or its REST API's worker threads, making mail delivery, the REST API and the webmail unavailable. 6.3.6 fixed CVE-2026-107574, in which reading a JSON object searched the member names already read for each new name, by keeping the names in a hash set; the set uses the standard library's hash, which takes no secret, so member names chosen to fall in one bucket of it still cost time growing with the square of their number. Against the released reader, one such object of 16 MB took about 5 seconds to read in the Linux build, and one of under 6 MB about 23 seconds in the Windows build, where objects of the same sizes with other names took under a tenth of a second. A remote unauthenticated attacker reaches the reader by mailing such an object as a TLS-RPT report, up to 16 MB once decompressed, to a hosted domain's report mailbox, where an administrator has set one; it is read on a mail delivery thread (ten by default), and those threads deliver all mail, local and outbound, so a stream of such reports stops all delivery for as long as it continues. It is also reached without an account through the reply to a password-protected message, with the message's link alone, where the REST API is on (it is off by default) and a public base URL for such links is set; and by any account through the webmail's routes granted 16 MB, and by an application's API key through the send API. Each such request holds one of the REST API's four worker threads, in the process that also serves SMTP, IMAP and POP3.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity
An algorithm in a product has an inefficient worst-case computational complexity that may be detrimental to system performance and can be triggered by an attacker, typically using crafted manipulations that ensure that the worst case is being reached.
More Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity vulnerabilities (CWE-407)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in hMailServer
- 7.3 High severity
- 7.3 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
Recent Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity vulnerabilities
- 8.7 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.7 High severity
- 7.7 High severity
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