---
id: "CVE-2026-85749"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-85749"]
title: "MailWatch: low-privilege users can release or delete other users' quarantined mail"
severity: "high"
cvss: 8.1
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "package"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["email", "mailscanner", "mailwatch", "package", "self-hosted"]
not_affected_if: ["version-1.2.27-or-later"]
published_at: "2026-10-28T23:17:11+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-28T23:35:49+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-28T23:36:39+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-85749", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-28T23:35:49+00:00"}]
---

# MailWatch: low-privilege users can release or delete other users' quarantined mail

MailWatch for MailScanner lets any logged-in user, including plain user and domain-admin roles, pass an arbitrary message ID to the quarantine action, skipping the per-role ownership filter. An attacker can force-deliver or permanently delete quarantined mail belonging to other users or domains.

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

## How to check

- Check the installed MailWatch version and confirm whether it is below `1.2.27`
- Look for the file `mailscanner/quarantine_action.php` in the MailWatch install and confirm it is present

## Fix

- Upgrade MailWatch for MailScanner to `1.2.27` or later

## Timeline

- 2026-10-28T23:35:49+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-85749

## From the sources

MailWatch for MailScanner is a web-based front-end to MailScanner. Prior to 1.2.27, any authenticated MailWatch user, including the U/user, D/domain-admin, and H/host roles, can release to inbox or permanently delete the quarantined mail of any other user or domain by supplying an arbitrary message `id` to `mailscanner/quarantine_action.php`. The action path calls `quarantine_list_items()` in `mailscanner/functions.php`, which selects from `maillog` by the supplied identifier without the per-role `global_filter` applied by listing and read views. The action requires a valid session and CSRF token, but the caller can submit a token from the caller's own session; ownership of the requested message is never checked. Message identifiers are enumerable, allowing a low-privilege user to invoke `quarantine_release()` or `quarantine_delete()` for other users' or domains' quarantined messages, force-delivering mail held by the quarantine or permanently deleting it. This issue is fixed in version 1.2.27.

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