CVE-2017-15132
Description
A flaw was found in dovecot 2.0 up to 2.2.33 and 2.3.0. An abort of SASL authentication results in a memory leak in dovecot's auth client used by login processes. The leak has impact in high performance configuration where same login processes are reused and can cause the process to crash due to memory exhaustion.
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Affected products
11- Range: >=2.0, <=2.2.33 || =2.3.0
- osv-coords9 versionspkg:rpm/opensuse/dovecot23&distro=openSUSE%20Tumbleweedpkg:rpm/opensuse/dovecot24&distro=openSUSE%20Tumbleweedpkg:rpm/suse/dovecot22&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%2012%20SP2pkg:rpm/suse/dovecot22&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%2012%20SP3pkg:rpm/suse/dovecot22&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%20for%20Raspberry%20Pi%2012%20SP2pkg:rpm/suse/dovecot22&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%20for%20SAP%20Applications%2012%20SP2pkg:rpm/suse/dovecot22&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Server%20for%20SAP%20Applications%2012%20SP3pkg:rpm/suse/dovecot22&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Software%20Development%20Kit%2012%20SP2pkg:rpm/suse/dovecot22&distro=SUSE%20Linux%20Enterprise%20Software%20Development%20Kit%2012%20SP3
< 2.3.16-1.6+ 8 more
- (no CPE)range: < 2.3.16-1.6
- (no CPE)range: < 2.4.0-1.1
- (no CPE)range: < 2.2.31-19.5.1
- (no CPE)range: < 2.2.31-19.5.1
- (no CPE)range: < 2.2.31-19.5.1
- (no CPE)range: < 2.2.31-19.5.1
- (no CPE)range: < 2.2.31-19.5.1
- (no CPE)range: < 2.2.31-19.5.1
- (no CPE)range: < 2.2.31-19.5.1
- The Dovecot Project/dovecotv5Range: 2.0 up to 2.2.33 and 2.3.0
Patches
Discovered fix commits and diffs is available to signed-in members. Sign in or create a free account to read it.
Vulnerability mechanics
Root cause
"An abort of SASL authentication results in a memory leak in dovecot's auth client."
Attack vector
An attacker can trigger this vulnerability by aborting the SASL authentication process. This can occur during various authentication flows, such as with IMAP. The vulnerability is triggered when the authentication is aborted, leading to a failure to properly release allocated memory.
Affected code
The vulnerability exists in the `auth_client_request_abort()` function within the file `src/lib-auth/auth-client-request.c`. The patch modifies this function by adding a single line of code.
What the fix does
The patch introduces a call to `pool_unref(&request->pool)` within the `auth_client_request_abort()` function. This ensures that the memory pool associated with the authentication request is properly deallocated when the authentication is aborted. Previously, this deallocation was missing, causing a memory leak.
Preconditions
- configThe system must be configured in a high-performance manner where login processes are reused.
- authSASL authentication must be initiated.
Generated on Jun 5, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.
References
7- usn.ubuntu.com/3556-1/mitrevendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU
- usn.ubuntu.com/3556-2/mitrevendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU
- www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4130mitrevendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIAN
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgimitrex_refsource_CONFIRM
- github.com/dovecot/core/commit/1a29ed2f96da1be22fa5a4d96c7583aa81b8b060.patchmitrex_refsource_CONFIRM
- lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/03/msg00036.htmlmitremailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
- www.dovecot.org/list/dovecot-news/2018-February/000370.htmlmitremailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
News mentions
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