Bug 2452173 (CVE-2026-0394)

Summary: CVE-2026-0394 dovecot: Dovecot: Information disclosure and authentication bypass via path traversal
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in dovecot. When configured to use per-domain password files, a path traversal vulnerability can be exploited by a remote attacker. This occurs if the password files are located one directory level above /etc or if a slash character is permitted in the domain component, allowing partial control over the directory path. Successful exploitation enables the attacker to read sensitive files, such as /etc/passwd, which could lead to unauthorized authentication or the unexpected validation of system users.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-03-27 09:02:00 UTC 
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.