Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2024-49393 affects Mutt and NeoMutt email clients. Signed or encrypted email may not protect the To and Cc header fields, so someone able to intercept a message could alter those fields and add themselves as a recipient. The main business risk is unintended disclosure of confidential email content.
Executive priority
Treat as a targeted confidentiality risk, not a broad emergency. Prioritize teams using Mutt or NeoMutt for confidential email, especially on affected RHEL systems. Monitor vendor advisories because the provided sources do not name a specific fixed version.
Technical view
The issue is classified as CWE-347: improper verification of cryptographic signature. The CVSS 3.1 score is 6.5, with network attack vector, high complexity, no privileges or user interaction, high confidentiality impact, and low integrity impact. Red Hat lists mutt as affected on RHEL 8, 9, and 10; RHEL 7 status is unknown.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most relevant where Mutt or NeoMutt is used for sensitive signed or encrypted email, especially on Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems listing mutt as affected. Organizations not using these clients have no direct exposure based on the provided sources.
Exploitation context
The CVE requires an attacker able to intercept a message and modify unprotected To or Cc header values. CISA KEV status is false in the provided data, and no cited source states active exploitation. The attack complexity is rated high.
Researcher notes
Public references include Red Hat tracking and NeoMutt issue/pull requests. The core weakness is unsigned recipient header metadata rather than a conventional memory-safety flaw. Evidence provided does not confirm fixed versions, exploit availability, or active exploitation.
Mitigation direction
- Identify systems with mutt or neomutt installed.
- Review Red Hat and upstream NeoMutt guidance for fixed packages or configuration advice.
- Prioritize updates when vendor-supported packages become available.
- Avoid relying on To/Cc headers alone for confidentiality assurance.
- Warn sensitive-email users about recipient-header tampering risk until remediated.
Validation and detection
- Inventory installed mutt and neomutt package versions.
- Map installations to RHEL 8, 9, 10, or other affected platforms.
- Check vendor advisories for fixed-version status.
- Confirm sensitive workflows using signed or encrypted email through these clients.
- Document any exception where no vendor fix is available yet.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-347: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2024-49393 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
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.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N2.24.2redhatVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- Source timelineredhat
Made public.
- Source timelineredhat
Reported to Red Hat.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-49393CVE reference, redhat · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2325317CVE reference, redhat · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://github.com/neomutt/neomutt/issues/4223CVE reference, redhat
- https://github.com/neomutt/neomutt/pull/4221CVE reference, redhat
- https://github.com/neomutt/neomutt/pull/4227CVE reference, redhat
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature
Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.