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HIGH severity

CVE-2022-28220 — james-server

HIGH

CVE-2022-28220 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-77 vulnerability in org.apache.james:james-server. A fix is available for org.apache.james:james-server — see the affected versions and patch details below.

STARTTLS command injection in Apache JAMES

Also known asGHSA-w45j-f5g5-w94x
Published
Updated
Affected
2 pkgs
Patched
2 / 2
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Oct 22, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
2.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs80th percentile — riskier than 80% of all scored CVEsHighest risk
0.00%3.81%7.62%11.4%1.9%2.0%Apr 26Aug 26Oct 26

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

2 pkgs affected
☕org.apache.james:james-server☕org.apache.james:james-server

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Apache James prior to release 3.6.3 and 3.7.1 is vulnerable to a buffering attack relying on the use of the STARTTLS command. Fix of CVE-2021-38542, which solved similar problem fron Apache James 3.6.1, is subject to a parser differential and do not take into account concurrent requests.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
☕Mavenorg.apache.james:james-serverall versions3.6.3org.apache.james:james-server:3.6.3
☕Mavenorg.apache.james:james-server≥ 3.7.0&&< 3.7.13.7.1org.apache.james:james-server:3.7.1

Affected Products

1 product · 2 configurations
Application
jamesapache
≤ 3.6.2
1 version
3.7.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.james:james-server, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update org.apache.james:james-server to 3.6.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-28220 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Frequently Asked Questions

Apache James prior to release 3.6.3 and 3.7.1 is vulnerable to a buffering attack relying on the use of the STARTTLS command. Fix of CVE-2021-38542, which solved similar problem fron Apache James 3.6.1, is subject to a parser differential and do not take into account concurrent requests.
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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CVE-2022-28220: james-server — Fixed in 3.6.3