Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2023-34108 is a high-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Mailcow Mailcow\. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 41% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-38211
Vulnerability Data
mailcow is a mail server suite based on Dovecot, Postfix and other open source software, that provides a modern web UI for user/server administration. A vulnerability has been discovered in mailcow which allows an attacker to manipulate internal Dovecot variables…
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by using specially crafted passwords during the authentication process. The issue arises from the behavior of the `passwd-verify.lua` script, which is responsible for verifying user passwords during login attempts. Upon a successful login, the script returns a response in the format of "password=<valid-password>", indicating the successful authentication. By crafting a password with additional key-value pairs appended to it, an attacker can manipulate the returned string and influence the internal behavior of Dovecot. For example, using the password "123 mail_crypt_save_version=0" would cause the `passwd-verify.lua` script to return the string "password=123 mail_crypt_save_version=0". Consequently, Dovecot will interpret this string and set the internal variables accordingly, leading to unintended consequences. This vulnerability can be exploited by an authenticated attacker who has the ability to set their own password. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could result in unauthorized access to user accounts, bypassing security controls, or other malicious activities. This issue has been patched in version `2023-05a`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.2.5V1.2.8V15.2.5
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.
Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.