CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-20617 — Improper access control vulnerability in acmailer ver

Critical CVSS 9.8

Improper access control vulnerability in acmailer ver. 4.0.1 and earlier, and acmailer DB ver. 1.1.3 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute an arbitrary OS command, or gain an administrative privilege which may result in obtaining the sensitive information on the server via unspecified vectors.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2021-01-14
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application

Affected products

  • acmailer / acmailer
  • acmailer / acmailer_db

Matched remediation archetype

Command, code, expression, and template injection

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
  • Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
  • Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.

Remediate safely

  • Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
  • Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
  • Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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