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CVE-2021-44026

Roundcube before 1.3.17 and 1.4.x before 1.4.12 is prone to a potential SQL injection via search or search_params.

CVSS
9.8Criticalscored by CISA
Exploited in the wild
Yes, in CISA KEV since 22 Jun 2023CISA deadline for US federal agencies: 13 Jul 2023unvetted proof-of-concept code on github
EPSS
69.9%chance of exploitation in the next 30 daystop 0.7% of scored CVEsFIRST score of 11 Nov 2026
Fix
Fixed in 1.3.17, 1.4.12per the vendor
Published
19 Nov 2021analysed here 12 Nov 2026

Do first. Upgrade to a fixed release: 1.3.17, 1.4.12.

Summary

Triage

Attack surface
Server-side
Exploitable
At runtime
Attack vector
network
Weakness
Can a WAF block it?
Yes. See why

The summary, impact and action text on this page are written by our AI analysis pipeline, or taken from the NVD description when a CVE was imported from NVD. They are not the vendor's wording: check them against the sources. A longer AI executive summary and technical analysis are generated for signed-in accounts on the Max plan.

Affected products

ProductAffected versions
roundcubefrom the Bitnami advisory, via OSV< 1.3.17>= 1.4.0 and < 1.4.12Vendor says fixed in: 1.3.17, 1.4.12

As published in the CVE Program record, and, for products that ship the affected component, in the advisory named beside them. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.

Products named in our analysis

  • roundcube:webmail
  • fedoraproject:fedora
  • debian:debian_linux

Fix and mitigation

WAF and other mitigations

Can a WAF block it? Yes. The vulnerability is a SQL injection via search parameters in a webmail application, so the malicious input is delivered in HTTP requests. A WAF can partially detect this by matching unusual SQL syntax in these parameters, but some legitimate searches might look similar, so filtering is only partly reliable. A custom WAF rule can filter SQL injection syntax in search or search_params parameters, but attackers can vary the request. No tracked WAF vendor has published a rule for this CVE yet.

What a custom rule would match: SQL injection syntax in search or search_params parameters

Also consider: patch · custom WAF rule · parameterized queries · ORM

Based on an AI reading of the CVE description, and no vendor rule found yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.

Remediation steps (AI-written)

Step-by-step remediation is generated for accounts on the Max plan, for CVEs that match a technology in their stack. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.

Exploitation evidence

CISA KEV catalog
Listed since 22 Jun 2023.
CISA due date
13 Jul 2023, the remediation deadline for US federal agencies
CISA required action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Public exploit code
Unvetted proof-of-concept code on GitHub: 2 GitHub proofs of concept
CISA SSVC
exploitation active, automatable yes, technical impact totalAssessed by CISA 4 Feb 2025 (SSVC 2.0.3). Exploitation is none, poc (public proof of concept) or active.

Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.

Timeline

  1. 19 Nov 2021Published
  2. 22 Jun 2023Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild)580 days (about 2 years) later
  3. 13 Jul 2023CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies)21 days later
  4. 4 Feb 2025CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active573 days (about 2 years) later
  5. 2 Apr 2025First proof-of-concept repository on GitHub (unvetted)56 days later
  6. 21 Oct 2025CVE record last updated203 days (about 7 months) later
  7. 12 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com387 days (about 1 year) later

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

MetricValueWhat it means
Attack vectorNetworkReachable over the internet or any routable network.
Attack complexityLowRepeatable attack, no special conditions.
Privileges requiredNoneThe attacker needs no prior access.
User interactionNoneNo victim action needed.
ScopeUnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
ConfidentialityHighTotal data disclosure possible.
IntegrityHighComplete modification possible.
AvailabilityHighFull outage possible.

Common questions

Is CVE-2021-44026 being exploited?

Yes. CVE-2021-44026 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.

How severe is CVE-2021-44026?

CVE-2021-44026 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.

Is there a patch for CVE-2021-44026?

Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2021-44026. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.

What does CVE-2021-44026 affect?

CVE-2021-44026 affects roundcube:webmail, fedoraproject:fedora, debian:debian_linux. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.

Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.

References

NVDCVE.orgCVE DetailsSource

8 references in the CVE record, grouped by the tags the record gives them.

Advisories (3)

Other links (5)

  • bugs.debian.org /1000156
  • github.com /roundcube/roundcubemail/commit/c8947ecb762d9e89c2091bda28d49002817263f1
  • github.com /roundcube/roundcubemail/commit/ee809bde2dcaa04857a919397808a7296681dcfa
  • lists.debian.org /debian-lts-announce/2021/12/msg00004.html
  • cisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-44026

Where the data on this page comes from

Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.

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