Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:LSummary
CVE-2026-24031 is a high-severity SQL Injection (CWE-89) vulnerability in Dovecot Dovecot. Its CVSS base score is 7.7 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 32th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-24031 is a vulnerability in Dovecot's SQL-based authentication mechanism that can be bypassed if an administrator clears the auth_username_chars configuration setting. This issue, classified under CWE-89 (SQL Injection), affects Dovecot installations using SQL authentication where the specified configuration change has been applied. Published on 2026-03-27 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.7 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L), it enables unauthorized access and reconnaissance against affected mail servers.
Remote attackers without privileges can exploit this vulnerability over the network, though it requires high attack complexity. Successful exploitation allows bypassing authentication for any user account and performing user enumeration, potentially granting attackers high-level confidentiality and integrity impacts, such as accessing user mailboxes, alongside low availability disruption.
The Open-Xchange Dovecot security advisory (oxdc-adv-2026-0001.json) recommends not clearing the auth_username_chars setting as the primary mitigation. If reconfiguration is not feasible, administrators should install the latest fixed version of Dovecot. No publicly available exploits are known at this time.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-16561
Vulnerability Data
Dovecot SQL based authentication can be bypassed when auth_username_chars is cleared by admin. This vulnerability allows bypassing authentication for any user and user enumeration. Do not clear auth_username_chars. If this is not possible, install latest fixed version. No publicly available…
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exploits are known.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V6.2.5
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover SQLi flaws before deployment but does not stop their introduction.
Input validation directly stops untrusted data from reaching SQL query construction without neutralization.
Secure engineering principles require parameterized queries and input sanitization that structurally eliminate SQLi.
System monitoring can identify attempted SQLi exploitation via anomalous queries after the weakness exists.
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.
Secure SDLC practices directly target injection flaws during coding and review so largely prevent CWE-89 introduction, yet the single broad outcome leaves residual risk from incomplete neutralization techniques or missed edge cases.
Training raises developer awareness of SQLi risks and can reduce introduction likelihood (partial) but removes none of the actual coding flaw's risk by itself since technical neutralization is still required.
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.
The same secure-coding and static-analysis activities surface missing neutralization of SQL metacharacters before the system is accepted.
Early warnings and shared best-practice information help organizations apply the latest remediation techniques against SQL-injection vulnerabilities.
Threat-intelligence feeds that surface new SQL-injection campaigns enable rapid updates to query-construction defenses and detection signatures before exploitation occurs.
Secure-coding rules and security testing phases mandate the use of parameterized queries or equivalent escaping, preventing the construction of dynamic SQL statements from untrusted input.
Language-specific secure coding rules, peer review and SAST together prevent the construction of SQL statements from untrusted data without proper parameterization or escaping.