CVE-2026-42245 json
net-imap: Quadratic complexity when reading response literals
published 2026-05-04 6 mo ago modified 2026-09-10 1 mo ago also EUVD-2026-28923 , GHSA-q2mw-fvj9-vvcw
- cvss
- 7.5
- version 3.1, NVD
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.4%
- EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 35%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
Net::IMAP implements Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) client functionality in Ruby. Prior to versions 0.4.24, 0.5.14, and 0.6.4, Net::IMAP::ResponseReader has quadratic time complexity when reading large responses containing many string literals. A hostile server can send responses which are crafted to exhaust the client's CPU for a denial of service attack. This issue has been patched in versions 0.4.24, 0.5.14, and 0.6.4.
Patch / fix
- rubygems net-imap 0.4.24, 0.5.14, 0.6.4
- ruby-lang net-imap 0.4.24, 0.5.14, 0.6.4
- ruby-lang net::imap 0.4.24, 0.5.14, 0.6.4
- ruby3.3 Debian 13 3.3.13-0+deb13u1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-42245
- ruby3.4 hummingbird 1 3.4.10-31.hum1
- ruby3.4-libs hummingbird 1 3.4.10-31.hum1
- rubygem3.4-irb hummingbird 1 1.14.3-31.hum1
- rubygem3.4-rbs hummingbird 1 3.8.0-31.hum1
- rubygem3.4-rss hummingbird 1 0.3.1-31.hum1
- rubygem3.4-json hummingbird 1 2.9.1-31.hum1
- rubygem3.4-racc hummingbird 1 1.8.1-31.hum1
- rubygem3.4-rake hummingbird 1 13.2.1-31.hum1
red hat advisories RHSA-2026:38694RHSA-2026:37238RHSA-2026:36099RHSA-2026:35895RHSA-2026:33721RHSA-2026:33576
- ruby AlmaLinux 8 3.3.10-7.module_el8.10.0+4210+b037b1ec
- rubygems AlmaLinux 8 3.5.22-7.module_el8.10.0+4210+b037b1ec
- ruby-libs AlmaLinux 8 3.3.10-7.module_el8.10.0+4210+b037b1ec
- rubygem-pg AlmaLinux 8 1.5.4-1.module_el8.10.0+3799+191214cc
- rubygem-irb AlmaLinux 8 1.13.1-7.module_el8.10.0+4210+b037b1ec
- rubygem-rbs AlmaLinux 8 3.4.0-7.module_el8.10.0+4210+b037b1ec
- rubygem-rss AlmaLinux 8 0.3.1-7.module_el8.10.0+4210+b037b1ec
- rubygem-abrt AlmaLinux 8 0.4.0-1.module_el8.10.0+3799+191214cc
almalinux advisories ALSA-2026:33515ALSA-2026:33540ALSA-2026:33565ALSA-2026:33576ALSA-2026:33577
- ruby4.0 Rocky Linux 10 4.0.3-35.el10_2
- ruby Rocky Linux 10 3.3.10-13.el10_2
- rubygem-pg Rocky Linux 9 1.5.4-2.module+el9.7.0+40188+314ad260.0.1
- rubygem-mysql2 Rocky Linux 9 0.5.5-3.module+el9.7.0+40032+36e56d0d
- rubygem-pg Rocky Linux 9 1.6.3-1.module+el9.8.0+40094+ce01217c
- rubygem-mysql2 Rocky Linux 9 0.5.7-1.module+el9.8.0+40094+ce01217c
- rubygem-pg Rocky Linux 8 1.5.4-1.module+el8.10.0+1679+61871737
- rubygem-pg Rocky Linux 8 1.5.4-1.module+el8.10.0+1827+16ecb9d2
rocky linux advisories RLSA-2026:33540RLSA-2026:33565RLSA-2026:33576RLSA-2026:33577RLSA-2026:33515
- ruby-net-imap Alpine 3.21 0.4.25-r0
alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2026-42245
Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
Vendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2026-42245 updated cvss 6.5
ruby: net-imap: Net::IMAP: Denial of Service via crafted IMAP responses
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) ruby 3.3.10-7.module+el8.10.0+24407+4a33a056, rubygems 3.5.22-7.module+el8.10.0+24407+4a33a056, ruby-libs 3.3.10-7.module+el8.10.0+24407+4a33a056, rubygem-pg 1.5.4-1.module+el8.10.0+21226+b78a28c4, rubygem-rbs 3.4.0-7.module+el8.10.0+24407+4a33a056, rubygem-rss 0.3.1-7.module+el8.10.0+24407+4a33a056, +18 morefixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:33515
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) ruby 3.3.10-7.module+el9.8.0+24406+8975e57f, ruby 4.0.3-33.module+el9.8.0+24428+77f1d00a, rubygems 3.5.22-7.module+el9.8.0+24406+8975e57f, rubygems 4.0.6-33.module+el9.8.0+24428+77f1d00a, ruby-libs 3.3.10-7.module+el9.8.0+24406+8975e57f, ruby-libs 4.0.3-33.module+el9.8.0+24428+77f1d00a, +40 morefixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:33576
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) ruby 3.3.10-13.el10_2, ruby4.0 4.0.3-35.el10_2, rubygems 3.5.22-13.el10_2, ruby-libs 3.3.10-13.el10_2, rubygem-rbs 3.4.0-13.el10_2, rubygem-rss 0.3.1-13.el10_2, +18 morefixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:33565
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.9.4) ruby 3.3.10-7.module+el9.4.0+24474+8fc4d0bd, rubygems 3.5.22-7.module+el9.4.0+24474+8fc4d0bd, ruby-libs 3.3.10-7.module+el9.4.0+24474+8fc4d0bd, rubygem-pg 1.5.4-1.module+el9.4.0+21222+faeeed2f, rubygem-rbs 3.4.0-7.module+el9.4.0+24474+8fc4d0bd, rubygem-rss 0.3.1-7.module+el9.4.0+24474+8fc4d0bd, +17 morefixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:36099
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0) ruby 3.3.10-11.el10_0.2, rubygems 3.5.22-11.el10_0.2, ruby-libs 3.3.10-11.el10_0.2, rubygem-rbs 3.4.0-11.el10_0.2, rubygem-rss 0.3.1-11.el10_0.2, rubygem-irb 1.13.1-11.el10_0.2, +15 morefixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:35895
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.9.6) ruby 3.3.10-6.module+el9.6.0+24475+76cce029, rubygems 3.5.22-6.module+el9.6.0+24475+76cce029, ruby-libs 3.3.10-6.module+el9.6.0+24475+76cce029, rubygem-pg 1.5.4-1.module+el9.4.0+21222+faeeed2f, rubygem-rbs 3.4.0-6.module+el9.6.0+24475+76cce029, rubygem-rss 0.3.1-6.module+el9.6.0+24475+76cce029, +17 morefixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:37238
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) ruby-doc 3.3.10-13.el10_2, ruby4.0-doc 4.0.3-35.el10_2fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:33565
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v. 10.0) ruby-doc 3.3.10-11.el10_0.2fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:35895
show 2 moreshow fewer
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Red Hat Hardened Images ruby3.4 3.4.10-31.hum1, ruby3.4 3.4.8-31.2.hum1, ruby4.0 4.0.0-33.4.hum1, ruby3.3 3.3.10-23.2.hum1, ruby3.4-libs 3.4.10-31.hum1, ruby3.4-libs 3.4.8-31.2.hum1, +78 morefixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:33721
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Red Hat 3scale API Management Platform 2 3scale-amp21/zync, 3scale-amp22/zync, 3scale-amp21/system, 3scale-amp22/system, 3scale-amp2/zync-rhel8, 3scale-amp2/zync-rhel9, +3 morenot affected: component not present
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
- Assessed
- 5 mo ago
Exploit prediction
0.41% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 35% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 4.0 | 2.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| CNA | 4.0 | 2.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X |
| NVD | 3.1 | 7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
Affected packages
| ecosystem | package | affected | fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| rubygems | net-imap | >=0.6.0, <0.6.4 >=0.5.0, <0.5.14 <0.4.24 |
0.6.4 0.5.14 0.4.24 |
Affected products
- ruby net-imap
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-407 Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity
References
-
github.com
/ruby/net-imap/commit/6091f7d6b1f3514cafbfe39c76f2b5d73de3ca96
web, patch
-
github.com
/ruby/net-imap/commit/88d95231fc8afef11c1f074453f7d75b68c9dfda
web, patch
-
github.com
/ruby/net-imap/commit/de685f91a4a4cc75eb80da898c2bf8af08d34819
web, patch
-
github.com
/ruby/net-imap/security/advisories/GHSA-q2mw-fvj9-vvcw
web, mitigation, vendor-advisory
-
github.com
/ruby/net-imap/releases/tag/v0.4.24
web, release-notes
-
github.com
/ruby/net-imap/releases/tag/v0.5.14
web, release-notes
-
github.com
/ruby/net-imap/releases/tag/v0.6.4
web, release-notes
-
nvd.nist.gov
/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42245
advisory
-
github.com
/ruby/net-imap
package
-
github.com
/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/net-imap/CVE-2026-42245.yml
web
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-42245
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-q2mw-fvj9-vvcw
- NVD CVE-2026-42245
Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.
CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.