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CVE-2018-6789

An issue was discovered in the base64d function in the SMTP listener in Exim before 4.90.1. By sending a handcrafted message, a buffer overflow may happen. This can be used to execute code remotely.

CVSS 9.8 (CRITICAL) KEV: KNOWN CATALOG

Attention and evidence

HYPE SCORE
0.0/10
REALITY · THREAT PRIORITY
8.9/10
General review priority; not probability

Evidence confidence: Exploitation recorded

Why this priority?
  • Recorded exploitation baseline: +7.00
  • Technical severity: CVSS 9.8: +1.47
  • Fresh EPSS: 82.14%: +0.41

General review priority, not probability, victim count or asset-specific risk. A range covers missing CVSS/EPSS inputs within the current evidence state.

Sources: 5 documents and public datasets.

Hype components

Headline sample (25%)
0/100
Press, 30 days (60%)
0/100
Grounded branding (15%)
0/100
HYPE TOTAL0/100

Sources and documents

Qualys
Press · 22 Feb 2022, 08:00 · Managing CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities with Qualys VMDR - Qualys
The Record from Recorded Future News
Press · 03 May 2021, 07:00 · 21Nails vulnerabilities impact 60% of the internet's email servers - The Record from Recorded Future News
www.trendmicro.com
Press · 28 Apr 2021, 07:00 · Manage Zero Day Exploits (ZDI) with Trend Micro Solutions - www.trendmicro.com
BleepingComputer
Press · 20 Oct 2020, 07:00 · NSA: Top 25 vulnerabilities actively abused by Chinese hackers - BleepingComputer
Security Affairs
Press · 07 Mar 2018, 08:00 · RCE flaw in Exim MTA affects half of the email servers online - Security Affairs

Score evolution

● Hype   ● Reality

Earlier evidence-support scores are retained in history; this chart shows only the current priority definition.

First record: hype 0.0 · reality 8.9 (2026-11-02 15:12). The curve appears once the score changes.

Public exploit evidence

2

Public exploit entries / repo candidates

See 2 repos with metrics
RepositoryStarsForksLanguageUpdated
synacktiv/Exim-CVE-2018-6789106C10 Oct 2019, 09:54
c0llision/exim-vuln-poc01Python03 May 2018, 17:20
Public exploit evidence
Evidence context and dated references

Reality is general threat/review priority, combining observed exploitation, CVSS severity and fresh EPSS. Evidence confidence is separate. This is not calibrated risk, a victim count or an asset-specific assessment. A range reflects missing numeric inputs.

Evidence in context

Confidence in exploitation evidence
Exploitation recorded
Priority basis
Recorded exploitation; CVSS 9.8; EPSS 82.1%
Attention, last 30 days
0 distinct story titles; 0 press documents; 0 publisher domains.
Technical potential
network access, no prior privileges, no user interaction.
Observed activity
Exploitation recorded in CISA KEV.
Known scale
Not quantified.
Evidence confidence basis
Trusted exploitation confirmation

Score evaluated: 2026-11-05 13:58:01.757148+00:00 · EPSS snapshot: 2026-11-05T12:03:04Z

Source event timeline
Published
08 Feb 2018, 23:00
First press mention
07 Mar 2018, 08:00
Added to the CISA KEV catalog
03 Nov 2021, 00:00
Latest press mention
22 Feb 2022, 08:00
Score calculated
05 Nov 2026, 13:58
PoCs on GitHub
2 repositories