CVE-2026-63435
mediumpriority · track · 0EPSS 0.004 · 39 %ileUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
Mail is an internet library for Ruby designed to handle email generation, parsing, and sending. Prior to 2.9.1, Mail::Utilities.q_value_decode and Mail::Utilities.b_value_decode used a single String#match and an overly greedy charset capture to decode only the first RFC 2047 encoded-word and mishandle surrounding or subsequent text. A crafted malformed encoded-word in an address display name or local part could cross ? delimiters and make decoded From, To, or Reply-To header values differ from the raw values inspected by a human reviewer or downstream parser, enabling apparent sender or recipient spoofing, phishing, or authorization-check bypass. This issue is fixed in version 2.9.1.
cvss
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base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode
ssvc
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weaknesses
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affected products (1)
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advisories (1)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- GHSA-mvxr-6m87-mv2qMail: Email address spoofing via malformed RFC 2047 encoded-words2026-09-02ghsa · osvUS
## Summary Mail::Utilities.q_value_decode and Mail::Utilities.b_value_decode decoded only the first RFC 2047 encoded-word in a string and used an overly greedy pattern to match the charset token. A crafted, malformed encoded-word embedded in an address display name or local part could cause the decoded output to differ from what a human reviewer or downstream parser would expect, allowing an attacker to spoof the apparent sender/recipient address. ## Details Both decoders used a single String#match against a pattern such as /\=\?(.+)?\?[Qq]\?(.*)\?\=/m. Two problems: 1. Single match, dropped remainder. Only the first =?charset?Q?...?= (or ?B?) word was decoded. Any additional encoded-words or surrounding text were not handled consistently, so the decoded result could silently omit or alter parts of the input. 2. Greedy charset capture. (.+)? is greedy and matches across ? delimiters, so a malformed word could span more of the string than a strict RFC 2047 parse would, changing the boundary between "encoded" and "literal" text. ## Impact Applications using mail to parse and display or authorize based on decoded header values (From, To, Reply-To, etc.) may present or act on an address different from the one a validator inspecting the raw header would see. Primary risk is spoofing / phishing and authorization-check bypass. No RCE.
sources
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references (4) nvd
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