CVE-2026-85751

Mailu: Authentication bypass in header-based proxy authentication via spoofable `X-Forwarded-By` trust

Published Sep 21, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 9.8 Critical EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
Mailu is a mail server distributed as a set of Docker images. From Mailu 2.0 until 2024.06.55 and prior to Mailu helm-charts 2.7.3, deployments with PROXY_AUTH_WHITELIST configured but REAL_IP_HEADER unset trusted a client-controlled X-Forwarded-By header for header-based proxy authentication. The proxy_hide_header directive in the nginx template at core/nginx/conf/proxy.conf hid the header from upstream responses but did not overwrite the incoming request value in this configuration. An unauthenticated remote attacker could therefore spoof the trusted proxy identity and bypass authentication. This issue is fixed in Mailu 2024.06.55 and Mailu helm-charts 2.7.3.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Mailu
Mailu helm-charts
Mailu mailu
Vendors & Products Mailu
Mailu helm-charts
Mailu mailu
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Mailu is a mail server distributed as a set of Docker images. From Mailu 2.0 until 2024.06.55 and prior to Mailu helm-charts 2.7.3, deployments with PROXY_AUTH_WHITELIST configured but REAL_IP_HEADER unset trusted a client-controlled X-Forwarded-By header for header-based proxy authentication. The proxy_hide_header directive in the nginx template at core/nginx/conf/proxy.conf hid the header from upstream responses but did not overwrite the incoming request value in this configuration. An unauthenticated remote attacker could therefore spoof the trusted proxy identity and bypass authentication. This issue is fixed in Mailu 2024.06.55 and Mailu helm-charts 2.7.3.
Title Mailu: Authentication bypass in header-based proxy authentication via spoofable `X-Forwarded-By` trust
Weaknesses CWE-290
CWE-807
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
GitHub_M
Published
Updated
Sep 21, 2026, 5:56 PM
Reserved
Sep 4, 2026, 2:50 PM
Status
Deferred
Published
Sep 21, 2026, 4:17 PM
Modified
Sep 24, 2026, 9:25 PM