CVE-2026-73208

dovecot: Dovecot: Authentication bypass via incorrect OAuth2 token validation

Published Aug 28, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 7.4 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
An attacker that holds a token intended for a different purpose can authenticate, because when an OAuth2 token response does not contain a scope claim, the audience claim is used in its place and checked against the configured required scopes. These are different concepts, and the audience claim does not describe what a token is allowed to do. A token that grants no relevant permissions can be accepted because its intended recipient value happens to match a configured scope name, granting access that should have been denied. It also hides an identity provider misconfiguration where scopes are not being issued at all. Ensure the identity provider issues a scope claim for all tokens used with Dovecot, and that configured scope names do not match audience values. Update to non-vulnerable version. No publicly available exploits are known.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4873-1 dovecot security update
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6526-1 dovecot security update
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Open-xchange
Open-xchange ox Dovecot Ce
Open-xchange ox Dovecot Pro
Vendors & Products Open-xchange
Open-xchange ox Dovecot Ce
Open-xchange ox Dovecot Pro
Type Values Removed Values Added
Title OAuth2 Token Misuse Enables Unauthorized Authentication dovecot: Dovecot: Authentication bypass via incorrect OAuth2 token validation
Weaknesses CWE-303
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

threat_severity

Important

Type Values Removed Values Added
Title OAuth2 Token Misuse Enables Unauthorized Authentication
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description An attacker that holds a token intended for a different purpose can authenticate, because when an OAuth2 token response does not contain a scope claim, the audience claim is used in its place and checked against the configured required scopes. These are different concepts, and the audience claim does not describe what a token is allowed to do. A token that grants no relevant permissions can be accepted because its intended recipient value happens to match a configured scope name, granting access that should have been denied. It also hides an identity provider misconfiguration where scopes are not being issued at all. Ensure the identity provider issues a scope claim for all tokens used with Dovecot, and that configured scope names do not match audience values. Update to non-vulnerable version. No publicly available exploits are known.
Weaknesses CWE-287
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.4, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
OX
Published
Updated
Aug 28, 2026, 3:53 PM
Reserved
Aug 11, 2026, 1:14 PM
Status
Deferred
Published
Aug 28, 2026, 12:16 PM
Modified
Sep 3, 2026, 6:13 PM
Severity
Important
Public date
Aug 28, 2026, 10:12 AM