hMailServer: Excessive authentication attempts in web services listener
Summary
The web services listener of hMailServer 6.3.3 through 6.3.7 does not apply the server's IP ranges to the connections it accepts. A remote, unauthenticated attacker whose address has been auto-banned can keep guessing account passwords at the CardDAV, CalDAV and Autodiscover sign-ins, while the mail listeners refuse that address. The listener is off by default and is reached only on its HTTPS port, including behind a TLS-terminating proxy.
Affected
- hMailServer 6.3.3 to 6.3.7 (CNA record)
- CardDAV from 6.3.3; CalDAV and Autodiscover from 6.3.4
- Only when the web services listener is enabled (WebServicesHttpsPort not 0)
Fixed in
- Upgrade to hMailServer 6.3.8
Workaround
- Keep WebServicesHttpsPort at 0 if CalDAV, CardDAV and Autodiscover are not needed
- Restrict the listener's HTTPS port at the firewall to trusted clients, because the auto-ban firewall rule and the fail2ban jail do not cover it
Exploitation
Unknown.
Our recommendation
- Upgrade to hMailServer 6.3.8
- After the upgrade, check that administrator-defined IP ranges that allow none of the mail protocols do not block required services such as ACME http-01, MTA-STS, CalDAV, CardDAV, Autodiscover or autoconfiguration
- If the web services listener is not needed, keep both web services ports at 0
- Monitor logs for repeated failed CardDAV, CalDAV or Autodiscover sign-ins
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- CVE Record CVE-2026-126614 www.cve.org
- hMailServer 6.3.8 release (GitLab) gitlab.com
- GitLab work item #105 gitlab.com
- VulDB entry CVE-2026-126614 vuldb.com
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 11 Nov 2026, 17:55.
Original description (NVD)
The web services listener of Progressive Robot hMailServer 6.3.3 through 6.3.7 does not apply the server's IP ranges to the connections it accepts, which allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to go on guessing account passwords at the listener's sign-ins after the auto-ban has banned the attacker's address. The listener is off by default (WebServicesHttpPort and WebServicesHttpsPort 0). From 6.3.3 its CardDAV, and from 6.3.4 its CalDAV and its Outlook Autodiscover answer to a request that carries credentials, sign an account in with HTTP Basic over HTTPS. A failed sign-in there counts towards the auto-ban as a failed logon on any other protocol does: when the failures counted from one address reach MaxInvalidLogonAttempts (3 within 30 minutes by default), the server writes an IP range that refuses the address for AutoBanMinutes (60 by default), and the SMTP, POP3, IMAP and ManageSieve listeners refuse it. The web services listener asked no IP range when it accepted a connection (in 6.3.3 nothing, from 6.3.4 the country policy alone), so it went on serving such an address, whether its ban had been earned there or on another protocol, and also an address that an administrator's IP range allowing nothing holds. Each failed sign-in there closed only its own connection, and the next connection was accepted, during the ban and after it. The firewall rule and command the auto-ban can drive (AutoBanFirewall and AutoBanCommand, off by default) are told only the SMTP, POP3 and IMAP ports, so that the firewall rule and the packaged hook did not close the listener's ports, and the fail2ban jail packaged for Linux (off by default) lists only the mail and ManageSieve ports. The only limit left on the guesses at one account there was the per-name lockout (AccountLockoutThreshold in hMailServer.ini, 0, off, by default), which has a separate defect fixed in the same release. The flaw is reached on the listener's HTTPS port: behind a TLS-terminating proxy the listener sees the proxy's address for every client, and a ban never named the client there.
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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