Path Traversal in Dovecot
CVE-2026-0394
When dovecot has been configured to use per-domain passwd files, and they are placed one path component above /etc, or slash has been added to allowed characters, path traversal can happen if the domain component is directory partial. This allows inadvertently reading /etc/passwd (or some other path which ends with passwd). If this file contains passwords, it can be used to authenticate wrongly, or if this is userdb, it can unexpectly make system users appear valid users. Upgrade to fixed version, or use different authentication scheme that does not rely on paths. Alternatively you can also ensure that the per-domain passwd files are in some other location, such as /etc/dovecot/auth/%d. No publicly available exploits are known.
Vulnerability class: Path Traversal (Directory Traversal)
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 5.3 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.004 (35.9th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 36th percentile — 35.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.004 · change: 0.000
Affected products
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- documentation.open-xchange.com/dovecot/security/advisories/csaf/2026/oxdc-adv-2… (vendor-advisory, Vendor Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-0394?
- CVE-2026-0394 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Dovecot, classified under Path Traversal. CVSS score: 5.3/10. Published 2026-03-27.
- How severe is CVE-2026-0394?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.3 out of 10.