Vulnerability in Cole Aiosmtplib

CVE-2026-55558

aiosmtplib is an asynchronous SMTP client for use with asyncio. Prior to 5.1.2, SMTPProtocol.start_tls in src/aiosmtplib/protocol.py consumes the server's 220 response and starts the TLS handshake without clearing SMTPProtocol._buffer. An active network attacker can place attacker-chosen SMTP response lines after the plaintext 220 response in the same network segment. The method then calls loop.start_tls; those bytes survive the transport upgrade and are parsed as the first response from inside the TLS session, desynchronizing subsequent SMTP command and response pairs. Connections using start_tls=True or opportunistic STARTTLS are affected, while connections using use_tls=True are not. This issue is fixed in version 5.1.2.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.9 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.004 (32.2th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 32nd percentile — 32.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-55558: held from 0.003 to 0.004.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.004 · change: +0.001

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-55558?
CVE-2026-55558 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cole Aiosmtplib, classified under Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component (Injection). CVSS score: 5.9/10. Published 2026-08-20.
How severe is CVE-2026-55558?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.9 out of 10.