smtp_mailaddr in smtp_session.c in OpenSMTPD 6.6, as used in OpenBSD 6.6 and other products, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands as root via a crafted SMTP session, as demonstrated by shell metacharacters in a MAIL FROM field. This affects the "uncommented" default configuration. The issue exists because of an incorrect return value upon failure of input validation.
CVE-2020-7247
“—” beside the score: it is equal to NVD's CVSS score.
Score elevated to 9.8 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-25), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.
Also known asEUVD-2020-28374 (ENISA EUVD) · GHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh (GitHub Security Advisories)Source: ENISA EUVD
- Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV) — the reason this is sooner than the SSVC decision on this page at low mission impact
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 9.8
- EG Score
- 9.8CRITICALhigh confidence
- EG Risk
- 99EG Risk 99/100
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.
How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)Severity98% × 45%Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 9.8 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.Exploitation100% × 40%Fixed at 100% for a CISA KEV listing: EchelonGraph's rule.Automatability100% × 15%CISA's SSVC Automatable value: yes (Vulnrichment).SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Attend at low mission impact; Act at medium or high.Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.Action: A fix is available. Apply it sooner than your standard update timelines at low mission impact and as soon as possible at medium or high. - EPSS PROB
- 99%
- EPSS %ILE
- 99th
- KEV
- ⚠ Exploited
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (9.8): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 9.8 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 9.8 CRITICALCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 99% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-11-01). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- CISA KEV and EG-KEV Tier 1 (exploited in the wild)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Act at medium mission impactAttend at low mission impact; Act at medium or high.CISA BOD 26-04: 3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 3 days & forensic triage if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Attend at low mission impact; Act at medium or high.
A fix is available. Apply it sooner than your standard update timelines at low mission impact and as soon as possible at medium or high.
Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 3 days & forensic triage if it is not.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV yes (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it
CISA required action“Apply updates per vendor instructions.”
Quoted verbatim from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. CISA directs it at US federal civilian executive branch agencies under Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 26-04, which replaced BOD 22-01 on 10 June 2026; it is not EchelonGraph's advice. CISA's notes: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7247
Published
January 29, 2020
Last Modified
November 7, 2025
Advisory Details (10)
Auto-updated Oct 30, 2026Bugtraq: [SECURITY] [DSA 4611-1] opensmtpd security update
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Jan/51[SECURITY] Fedora 32 Update: opensmtpd-6.6.4p1-2.fc32 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OPH4QU4DNVHA7ACFXMYFCEP5PSXXPN4E/commit 9dcfda045474 (openbsd/src)
Fix landed in openbsd/src commit 9dcfda045474 — awaiting tagged release
https://github.com/openbsd/src/commit/9dcfda045474d8903224d175907bfc29761dcb45oss-security - LPE and RCE in OpenSMTPD (CVE-2020-7247)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/01/28/3Full Disclosure: LPE and RCE in OpenSMTPD (CVE-2020-7247)
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Jan/49Packet Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162093/OpenBSD-OpenSMTPD-6.6-Remote-Code-Execution.htmlPacket Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156295/OpenSMTPD-6.6.1-Local-Privilege-Escalation.htmlPacket Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156249/OpenSMTPD-MAIL-FROM-Remote-Code-Execution.htmlPatch Availability(2)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fix (by version range) / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | opensmtpd (6.0.3p1-6ubuntu0.1) @ eoan | 2026-11-02 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | opensmtpd (5.7.3p2-1ubuntu0.1~esm2) @ xenial | 2026-11-02 | ubuntu |
Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.
Affected Packages
(12 across 12 ecosystems)
Alpine:v3.11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.12(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.13(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.14(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.15(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.16(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | — |
| — |
Debian:10(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | 6.0.3p1-5, 6.0.3p1-5+deb10u1, 6.0.3p1-5+deb10u2 |
| — |
Debian:11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | — |
| — |
Debian:12(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | — |
| — |
Debian:13(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | — |
| — |
Debian:14(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | — |
| — |
Debian:9(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| opensmtpd | 6.0.2p1-2, 6.0.2p1-2+deb9u1 |
| — |
Weakness Classification(3)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
All Vendor Advisories
(2)
Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 24× in last 7d / 165× in last 30d)
Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). Most recent first.
Showing the most recent 100 of 1,551 refreshes on record for this CVE.
A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. None are among the latest 100 rows. The 1,451 oldest rows on record are not shown and were not checked, so the counts can still include repeats.
- 2026-11-02 11:54 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-11-02 11:54 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-11-02 11:54 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-11-01 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99% · 99th percentile
- 2026-11-01 12:49 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-11-01 12:49 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-11-01 12:48 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-31 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-31 13:42 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-31 13:42 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-31 13:42 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-30 14:35 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-30 14:35 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-30 14:35 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-29 15:29 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-29 15:29 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-29 15:29 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-28 16:23 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-28 16:23 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-27 17:17 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-27 17:17 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-27 17:17 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-26 18:11 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-26 18:11 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-25 19:04 UTCVendor advisory
Show 75 moreShow fewer
- 2026-10-25 19:04 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-25 18:40 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-25 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-24 19:57 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-24 19:57 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-24 19:57 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-23 20:50 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-23 20:50 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-23 20:50 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-22 21:43 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-22 21:43 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-22 21:43 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-22 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-21 22:36 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-21 22:36 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-21 22:36 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-20 23:30 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-20 23:30 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-20 23:30 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-20 00:24 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-20 00:24 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-20 00:24 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-19 01:17 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-19 01:17 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-19 01:17 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-18 09:18 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-18 02:10 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-18 02:10 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-18 02:10 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-17 03:04 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-17 03:04 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-17 03:04 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-16 03:58 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-16 03:57 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-15 04:51 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-15 04:51 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-15 04:51 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-14 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 99% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-14 05:44 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-14 05:43 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-13 06:35 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-12 19:31 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-12 07:29 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-12 07:29 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-12 03:24 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-11 23:22 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 23:22 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-11 19:22 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-11 19:22 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 19:21 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-11 15:20 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-11 15:20 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 15:20 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-11 11:19 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-11 11:19 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 11:18 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-11 07:14 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 07:14 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-11 03:13 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-11 03:13 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-10 23:11 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-10 23:11 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-10 19:09 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-10 15:06 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-10 15:06 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-10 11:04 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-10 11:04 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-10 07:03 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-10 07:02 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-10 03:02 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-10 03:02 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-09 23:00 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-09 23:00 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
- 2026-10-09 18:59 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-09 18:59 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-rcw6-69h3-89fh · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 9.8
Publicly available exploits
(12 references, 10 shown)Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (1 Metasploit module, 3 Exploit-DB entries, 7 GitHub PoCs), as is 1 Nuclei detection template. A detection template checks whether a system is affected; it is not necessarily exploit code. Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly.
- Exploit-DBEDB-48051✓ verifiedPublished Feb 11, 2020
OpenSMTPD 6.4.0 < 6.6.1 - Local Privilege Escalation + Remote Code Execution
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-48038✓ verifiedPublished Feb 10, 2020
OpenSMTPD - MAIL FROM Remote Code Execution (Metasploit)
Open source ↗ - Metasploitexploit/unix/smtp/opensmtpd_mail_from_rce✓ verifiedPublished Feb 7, 2020
OpenSMTPD MAIL FROM Remote Code Execution
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-47984✓ verifiedPublished Jan 30, 2020
OpenSMTPD 6.6.1 - Remote Code Execution
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCpresentdaypresenttime/shai_huludPublished Feb 7, 2022
Worm written in python, abuses CVE-2020-7247
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCSimonSchoeni/CVE-2020-7247-POCPublished Nov 26, 2021
Proof of concept for CVE-2020-7247 for educational purposes.
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCf4T1H21/CVE-2020-7247Published Jun 19, 2021
PoC exploit for CVE-2020-7247 OpenSMTPD 6.4.0 < 6.6.1 Remote Code Execution
Open source ↗ - Nucleijavascript/cves/2020/CVE-2020-7247.yamlPublished May 4, 2021
OpenSMTPD 6.4.0-6.6.1 - Remote Code Execution
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCQTranspose/CVE-2020-7247-exploitPublished Feb 13, 2021
OpenSMTPD 6.4.0 - 6.6.1 Remote Code Execution PoC exploit
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCr0lh/CVE-2020-7247Published Feb 18, 2020
Proof Of Concept Exploit for CVE-2020-7247 (Remote Execution on OpenSMTPD < 6.6.2
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same product + same vendor + same CWE)
Same product
8 shownDebian:10:opensmtpd · Alpine:v3.11:opensmtpd · Debian:11:opensmtpd
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-78 · CWE-755
- CVE-2020-8438EG 7.2HIGH
- CVE-2020-8515EG 9.8 KEVEPSS p100CRITICAL
- CVE-2020-7980EG 9.8EPSS p100CRITICAL
- CVE-2020-7596EG 8.8HIGH
- CVE-2019-5593EG 5.5MEDIUM
- CVE-2020-7594EG 7.2HIGH
- CVE-2020-6760EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2020-8654NVD 8.8EG 9.0EPSS p100CRITICAL
- CVE-2020-7244EG 7.2EPSS p91HIGH
- CVE-2020-7243EG 7.2EPSS p91HIGH
Frequently asked(6)
What is CVE-2020-7247?
When was the CVE record for CVE-2020-7247 published?
Is CVE-2020-7247 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-7247?
Which products are affected by CVE-2020-7247?
How do I remediate CVE-2020-7247?
Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2020-7247
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2020-7247?
EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.