CVE-2026-45185: exploitation status and patch state

CVE-2026-45185 · CVSS 9.8 CRITICAL · EPSS 1%

Exim before 4.99.3, in certain GnuTLS configurations, has a remotely reachable use-after-free in the BDAT body parsing path. It is triggered when a client sends a TLS close_notify mid-body during a CHUNKING transfer, followed by a final cleartext byte on the same TCP connection. This can lead to heap corruption. An unauthenticated network attacker exploiting this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code.

Is CVE-2026-45185 exploited?

• Not in the CISA KEV catalog.
• EPSS puts exploitation in the next 30 days at 1%.
• Public exploit code: none found in monitored sources.

Which products and versions are affected?

No affected package list recorded here yet.

Is there a patch?

No patch identifier recorded here yet.

What PlainSec published about CVE-2026-45185

• Exim BDAT Edge Case Opens Potential Code Execution (2026-05-14)

Primary sources

• NVD record

What this record does not say

• No affected package data.
• No patch identifier.

KEV and EPSS are re-checked daily. Record last updated 2026-08-11.