security release for Exim

[Jeremy Harris <jgh () exim org>]

Dear Exim users,

The Exim maintainers are releasing a security fix for two security issues.


----

Identifier:        EXIM-Security-2026-06-22.1 (GCVE-25-2026-07-45-1)
Type:              Directory traversal, local
Component:         Exim
Affects:           4.88 (2017) through the current 4.99.4 release
Corrected in:      Exim 4.99.5 (exim-4.99.5)
Credit:            The unnamed and uncredited authors whose works
                        were ingested as the training corpus

Vulnerability Details
---------------------

Using command-line arguments intended for transferring queue-name through an Exim execution chain,
files outside the spool area can be accessed.  This can be used for a privilege escalation.


Affected Configurations
-----------------------

All Exim installations; attacker with command-line access.


Mitigations
-----------

None.

Resolution
----------

Upgrade to Exim 4.99.5.  The fix is on branch exim-4.99+fixes,
tag exim-4.99.5, signed by Jeremy Harris <jgh146exb () wizmail org>,
key A986F3A6BD6377D8730958DEBCE58C8CE41F32DF.

Downloads
---------

  https://ftp.exim.org/pub/exim/exim4/
  https://code.exim.org/exim/exim/releases

Advisory
--------

  https://www.exim.org/static/doc/security/EXIM-Security-2026-06-22.1/


----

Identifier:        EXIM-Security-2026-06-22.3 (GCVE-25-2026-07-45-3)
Type:              Command execution with alternate privilege
Component:         Exim
Affects:           4.82 (2013) through the current 4.99.4 release
Corrected in:      Exim 4.99.5 (exim-4.99.5)
Credit:            The unnamed and uncredited authors whose works
                        were ingested as the training corpus

Vulnerability Details
---------------------

A local user having a .forward file can use a string-expansion there. With certain Exim configurations
this can be used as a privilege escalation.


Affected Configurations
-----------------------

An Exim configuration with

- a redirect router implementing .forward facilities for local users
- a pipe transport accessible by that router
- the pipe transport having the "force_command" option set
- the pipe transport configured to run as a privileged user

Mitigations
-----------

Do not set "force_command" on pipe transports.

Resolution
----------

Upgrade to Exim 4.99.5.  The fix is on branch exim-4.99+fixes,
tag exim-4.99.5, signed by Jeremy Harris <jgh146exb () wizmail org>,
key A986F3A6BD6377D8730958DEBCE58C8CE41F32DF.

Downloads
---------

  https://ftp.exim.org/pub/exim/exim4/
  https://code.exim.org/exim/exim/releases

Advisory
--------

  https://www.exim.org/static/doc/security/EXIM-Security-2026-06-22.3/


----


Timeline
--------

  2026-06-22 20:11 UTC Report received
  2026-06-23 11:57 UTC Fix drafted
  2026-07-12 12:00 UTC GCVEs assigned by [GNA](https://gcve.eu/gna/25/)
  2026-07-13 19:25 UTC Advance notice sent to distros () vs openwall org
  2026-07-15 11:05 UTC Fix branch and tag exim-4.99.5 pushed to exim-distros
  2025-07-22 14:00 UTC Public release
  
--
Jeremy Harris
On behalf of the Exim Maintainers