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CVE Record

CVE-2019-9148: Mailvelope prior to 3.3.0 accepts or operates with invalid PGP public keys: Mailvelope allows importing key...

Mailvelope prior to 3.3.0 accepts or operates with invalid PGP public keys: Mailvelope allows importing keys that contain users without a valid self-certification. Keys that are obviously invalid are not rejected during import. An attacker that is able to get a victim to import a manipulated key could claim to have signed a message that originates from another person.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

Mailvelope before 3.3.0 could accept clearly invalid PGP public keys. If a user imported a manipulated key, an attacker could make a message appear signed by someone else. The practical risk is loss of trust in sender identity for organizations relying on Mailvelope for email authenticity.

Executive priority

Treat this as a targeted trust-integrity issue, not a broad remote compromise. Prioritize teams using Mailvelope for sensitive communications, legal approvals, or executive email authenticity, especially where public keys are imported manually.

Technical view

The issue is improper validation of imported PGP public keys, specifically keys containing users without valid self-certification. Sources state Mailvelope did not reject obviously invalid keys before version 3.3.0. Successful abuse requires getting a victim to import the manipulated key.

Likely exposure

Exposure is likely limited to users or teams using Mailvelope versions earlier than 3.3.0 and importing public keys from untrusted or weakly verified sources. The provided CVE data does not identify broader affected products or platforms.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Abuse depends on social or workflow access to introduce a manipulated public key into a victim's Mailvelope keyring.

Researcher notes

The CVE description is concise and lacks CVSS, CWE, detailed affected CPEs, and exploit telemetry. Analysis should stay scoped to Mailvelope before 3.3.0 and invalid PGP public-key import behavior unless vendor or BSI sources add detail.

Mitigation direction

  • Upgrade Mailvelope to version 3.3.0 or later.
  • Check Mailvelope vendor guidance and changelog for related key-validation fixes.
  • Remove public keys that cannot be independently verified.
  • Require out-of-band verification for important PGP public keys.
  • Reconfirm trust for keys imported before upgrading.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory users with Mailvelope installed and record extension versions.
  • Identify any Mailvelope installations older than 3.3.0.
  • Review imported PGP keys for missing or invalid self-certification.
  • Confirm key verification procedures for sensitive contacts.
  • Document whether business workflows depend on PGP signature attribution.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
5

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
4Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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