Resource exhaustion in Dovecot
CVE-2026-40016
Attacker can upload a malicious Sieve script over ManageSieve service (or locally) to bypass configured CPU time limits for Sieve up to 130 times of the configured limit. Attacker can use this to degrade server performance and bypass configured CPU time limits for Sieve scripts. Install fixed version, or alternatively prevent direct access to Sieve scripts via ManageSieve or local access. No publicly available exploits are known.
Vulnerability class: DoS (Denial of Service)
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 5.3 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
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: 0.003 · newest: 0.004 · change: +0.001
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-2026-40016?
- CVE-2026-40016 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Dovecot, classified under Uncontrolled Resource Consumption. CVSS score: 5.3/10. Published 2026-05-12.
- How severe is CVE-2026-40016?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.3 out of 10.