Improper Input Validation Apache Commons Email

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

7.5 · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

EPSS

• CVE-2018-1294: 2.77% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 86.32 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

If a user of Apache Commons Email (typically an application programmer) passes unvalidated input as the so-called "Bounce Address", and that input contains line-breaks, then the email details (recipients, contents, etc.) might be manipulated. Mitigation: Users should upgrade to Commons-Email 1.5. You can mitigate this vulnerability for older versions of Commons Email by stripping line-breaks from data, that will be passed to Email.setBounceAddress(String).

Published by the source

14 May 2022, 01:28 UTC

Last modified by the source

27 Jan 2023, 05:02 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:53 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-v7cm-w955-pj6g

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2018-1294

Advisory: Improper Input Validation Apache Commons Email
IDs: CVE-2018-1294, GHSA-v7cm-w955-pj6g
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2018-1294 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:53 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.5)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: org.apache.commons:commons-email 1.5. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven org.apache.commons:commons-email: affected < 1.5; fixed in 1.5

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven org.apache.commons:commons-email: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on org.apache.commons:commons-email.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-v7cm-w955-pj6g (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-v7cm-w955-pj6g lists affected ranges: Maven org.apache.commons:commons-email >=0 <1.5)

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