Critical Exim Vulnerabilities in Ubuntu Allow Local Privilege Escalation

Linuxsecurity

Critical Exim Vulnerabilities in Ubuntu Allow Local Privilege Escalation

First seen 23 Jul 2026, 01:23 UTC • •70.5

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ThreatCluster •July 24, 2026 at 01:16 UTC

•Exim vulnerabilities allow local attackers to escalate privileges and access sensitive files.
•Affected Ubuntu versions include 26.04, 24.04, and 22.04 LTS with specific package versions.
•Users are urged to update their systems to mitigate these vulnerabilities.

Multiple vulnerabilities were identified in Exim, a mail transport agent, affecting Ubuntu systems. Local attackers can exploit these flaws to access files outside the spool area and escalate privileges through improper command line handling and string expansion in .local files. The vulnerabilities impact several versions of Ubuntu, including 26.04 LTS, 24.04 LTS, and 22.04 LTS. Affected package versions include exim4 4.99.1-1ubuntu1.4 for 26.04 LTS, exim4 4.97-4ubuntu4.7 for 24.04 LTS, and exim4 4.95-4ubuntu2.11 for 22.04 LTS. Users are advised to perform a standard system update to mitigate these issues. The vulnerabilities were disclosed in Ubuntu Security Notice USN-8590-1, published on July 22, 2026.

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Timeline

2026-07-22

Ubuntu Security Notice USN-8590-1 published

Ubuntu disclosed multiple vulnerabilities in Exim affecting local privilege escalation and file access.

2026-07-22

Exim vulnerabilities detailed

Exim's handling of command line options and string expansion in .local files were found to be flawed, allowing local attacks.

More articles in this cluster (4)

Threat Graph

7 entities, 7 inferred relationships (STIX 2.1).

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Technique (2)

Privilege Escalation
T1068 - Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Organization (1)

Ubuntu

Weakness (2)

CWE-22 - Path Traversal
CWE-269 - Improper Privilege Management

Affected Platform (2)

Exim
Linux

Relationships

Privilege Escalation targets Exim
Privilege Escalation targets Linux
T1068 - Exploitation for Privilege Escalation targets Exim
T1068 - Exploitation for Privilege Escalation targets Linux
Privilege Escalation related to Ubuntu
Privilege Escalation related to CWE-22 - Path Traversal
Privilege Escalation related to CWE-269 - Improper Privilege Management

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