CVE-2025-11468
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Python's email header parsing allows header injection when processing user-controlled email addresses containing specific comment patterns. It affects applications that use Python's email module to process untrusted email addresses without proper sanitization.
💻 Affected Systems
- Python
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could inject arbitrary email headers, potentially enabling email spoofing, phishing attacks, or mail server manipulation.
Likely Case
Email header injection leading to spoofed sender addresses or modified email routing in affected applications.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact if input validation and sanitization are properly implemented for email addresses.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires specific knowledge of email header parsing and comment folding behavior.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Versions containing the referenced GitHub commits
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/python/cpython/commits/main
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update Python to version containing fix commits. 2. Verify the commits are present in your Python installation. 3. No restart required for Python interpreter updates.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation and Sanitization
allImplement strict validation and sanitization of email addresses before processing with Python's email module
Use Alternative Email Parsing
allUse third-party email validation libraries that properly handle edge cases
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation for all email address fields
- Use allow-list validation for email address formats and reject addresses containing parentheses or comments
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if your Python installation contains the fix commits by examining the source code or checking commit historyCheck Version:
python --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify the specific commit hashes are present in your Python installation's git history📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual email header patterns in application logs
- Email parsing errors with parentheses in addresses
Network Indicators:
- Email messages with malformed headers from your application
SIEM Query:
Search for email processing errors or unusual email header patterns in application logs🔗 References
- https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/003b8315669b9f08b1010a49071f73f15f818094
- https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/17d1490aa97bd6b98a42b1a9b324ead84e7fd8a2
- https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/61614a5e5056e4f61ced65008d4576f3df34acb6
- https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/a76e4cd62dd68e7cbe86e37e6ed988495a646b66
- https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/e9970f077240c7c670e8a6fc6662f2b30d3b6ad0
- https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/f738386838021c762efea6c9802c82de65e87796
- https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/143935
- https://github.com/python/cpython/pull/143936
- https://mail.python.org/archives/list/security-announce@python.org/thread/FELSEOLBI2QR6YLG6Q7VYF7FWSGQTKLI/
