Serendipity: Host Header Injection leads to SMTP header injection via unvalidated HTTP_HOST
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-39971 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | GitHub_M |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-04-15 04:17:39 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-04-17 15:38:09 UTC |
| Description | Serendipity is a PHP-powered weblog engine. In versions 2.6-beta2 and below, the email sending functionality in include/functions.inc.php inserts $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] directly into the Message-ID SMTP header without validation, and the existing sanitization function serendipity_isResponseClean() is not called on HTTP_HOST before embedding it. An attacker who can control the Host header during an email-triggering action such as comment notifications or subscription emails can inject arbitrary SMTP headers into outgoing emails. This enables identity spoofing, reply hijacking via manipulated Message-ID threading, and email reputation abuse through the attacker's domain being embedded in legitimate mail headers. This issue has been fixed in version 2.6.0. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.2 HIGH from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS: 0.000380000 probability, percentile 0.114500000 (date 2026-04-21)
Problem Types: CWE-113 | CWE-113 CWE-113: Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences in HTTP Headers ('HTTP Request/Response Splitting')
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Secondary | 7.2 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N |
| 3.1 | CNA | DECLARED | 7.2 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneScope
ChangedConfidentiality
LowIntegrity
LowAvailability
NoneCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | S9y | Serendipity | affected < 2.6.0 | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/s9y/Serendipity/security/advisories/GHSA-458g-q4fh-mj6r | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/s9y/Serendipity/releases/tag/2.6.0 | [email protected] | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.