🛡️ CVE-2021-40525 — james-server

🔴 CVSS 9.5 — Critical ✅ No Known Exploit CWE-22 OSV
9.5
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

Path traversal in Apache James

Apache James ManagedSieve implementation alongside with the file storage for sieve scripts is vulnerable to path traversal, allowing reading and writing any file. This vulnerability had been patched in Apache James 3.6.1 and higher. We recommend the upgrade. Distributed and Cassandra based products are also not impacted.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs no privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality high, integrity high, availability none.

Weakness class

CVE-2021-40525 is classified as CWE-22: Path Traversal. A file path built from user input is not confined to the intended directory, letting an attacker reach files elsewhere on the filesystem.

Affected software

CVE-2021-40525 is recorded against 1 package.

  • org.apache.james:james-server (fixed in 3.6.1)

Timeline and source

Published on 21 January 2022 and last revised on 4 February 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.

References

nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
github.com (Package)
www.openwall.com (Web)
www.openwall.com (Web)
www.openwall.com (Web)

Details

Severity CRITICAL
CVSS Score 9.5
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CWE CWE-22
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source OSV
Published 2022-01-21
Updated 2026-08-12
Modified 2026-02-04
Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
org.apache.james:james-server — 3.6.1

Similar Threats

Exploit Protection

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