Description
Buffer overflow in Sendmail 5.79 to 8.12.7 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via certain formatted address fields, related to sender and recipient header comments as processed by the crackaddr function of headers.c.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.
Exploit-DB 3
- Sendmail 8.12.x - Header Processing Buffer Overflow (1) EDB-22313 · remote · Mar 2, 2003 · verified
- Sendmail 8.12.x - Header Processing Buffer Overflow (2) EDB-22314 · remote · Mar 2, 2003 · verified
- Sendmail 8.11.x (Linux/i386) - Local Privilege Escalation EDB-411 · local · Jan 1, 2001 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 1
- DSA-257 sendmail - remote exploit Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- RHSA-2003:073 vendor-advisory
- IY40501 vendor-advisory
- 20030303 Fwd: APPLE-SA-2003-03-03 sendmail mailing-list
- RHSA-2003:227 vendor-advisory
- 6991 vdb-entry
- VU#398025 third-party-advisory
- http://www.sendmail.org/8.12.8.html
- DSA-257 vendor-advisory
- 20030304 [LSD] Technical analysis of the remote sendmail vulnerability mailing-list
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:2222 vdb-entry signature
- RHSA-2003:074 vendor-advisory
- CA-2003-07 third-party-advisory
- 20030303 sendmail 8.12.8 available mailing-list
- MDKSA-2003:028 vendor-advisory
- IY40500 vendor-advisory
- sendmail-header-processing-bo(10748) vdb-entry
- CLA-2003:571 vendor-advisory
- HPSBUX0302-246 vendor-advisory
- 20030303 Remote Sendmail Header Processing Vulnerability third-party-advisory
- IY40502 vendor-advisory
- 20030304 GLSA: sendmail (200303-4) mailing-list