Inefficient algorithmic complexity in the SPF macro expansion of Progressive Robot hMailServer 6.3.4 and 6.3.5 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to consume worker-thread time by publishing a crafted SPF record. RFC 7208 section 7.1 requires a name too long to look up to lose whole labels from the left; the server did this by removing one label at a time and copying the rest of the name each time, so the work grew with the square of the expansion. An attacker who publishes an SPF record for a domain they control, with a mechanism whose domain-spec expands through macros to a name far longer than 253 characters, makes the SPF check of a message from that domain take several seconds. The expansion is bounded by SPF's own per-term and per-macro limits, so the loss of availability is partial.

Project Subscriptions

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Advisories

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Fixes

Solution

Upgrade to hMailServer 6.3.6, which finds where the name becomes short enough and cuts it once. Until then, turn SPF checking off, or accept the bounded delay.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Inefficient algorithmic complexity in the SPF macro expansion of Progressive Robot hMailServer 6.3.4 and 6.3.5 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to consume worker-thread time by publishing a crafted SPF record. RFC 7208 section 7.1 requires a name too long to look up to lose whole labels from the left; the server did this by removing one label at a time and copying the rest of the name each time, so the work grew with the square of the expansion. An attacker who publishes an SPF record for a domain they control, with a mechanism whose domain-spec expands through macros to a name far longer than 253 characters, makes the SPF check of a message from that domain take several seconds. The expansion is bounded by SPF's own per-term and per-macro limits, so the loss of availability is partial.
Title Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity in hMailServer
Weaknesses CWE-407
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L'}


Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitLab

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-08T11:46:46.082Z

Reserved: 2026-10-08T10:51:40.639Z

Link: CVE-2026-107575

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-10-08T12:17:15.333

Modified: 2026-10-08T12:17:15.333

Link: CVE-2026-107575

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses