---
id: "CVE-2026-118179"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-118179"]
title: "Thunderbird: news links make it connect to arbitrary hosts and send commands"
severity: "medium"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "other"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["desktop", "email", "other", "thunderbird"]
not_affected_if: ["fixed-version", "no-news-links"]
published_at: "2026-10-27T19:17:29+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-27T19:33:18+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-27T19:35:11+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-118179", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-27T19:33:18+00:00"}]
---

# Thunderbird: news links make it connect to arbitrary hosts and send commands

Clicking a news: or snews: link with a crafted message-ID made Thunderbird open a connection to whatever host and port the link named, even if it was not a configured news server. Line breaks in the message-ID were passed to the server unchanged, so the link could send arbitrary commands to services reachable from the user's network, and snews: links connected without TLS.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- Check the Thunderbird version under Help > About Thunderbird, or run `thunderbird --version` on the machine
- Confirm whether the team uses news (NNTP) accounts at all, since the flaw is triggered through news: and snews: links

## Fix

- Move Thunderbird to `153.6` or later on the 153 line, or to `159` or later
- Until patched, avoid clicking news: and snews: links from untrusted sources

## Timeline

- 2026-10-27T19:33:18+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-118179

## From the sources

Clicking a news: or snews: link that referenced a message-ID made Thunderbird connect, without asking, to the host and port given in the link, even if it was not a configured news server. Line breaks in the message-ID were sent to the server unmodified, so a crafted link could send arbitrary commands to services reachable from the user's network. In addition, snews: links to such servers connected without TLS. This vulnerability was fixed in Thunderbird 159 and Thunderbird 153.6.

---

_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_