CVE-2026-126135: SMTP and POP3 response injection when using STARTTLS

Published Nov 10, 2026
·
Updated

If an attacker was able to perform a man-in-the-middle attack on an SMTP or POP3 server connection using STARTTLS, the attacker could inject server responses before the TLS handshake completed. Thunderbird would process these responses after the handshake, as if they had been received from the server over the encrypted connection. This could be used to make Thunderbird report a different outcome for sending or fetching mail, and to show attacker-controlled text in error messages. The encrypted connection itself was not compromised, and credentials were not exposed. Connections using SSL/TLS instead of STARTTLS were not affected.

Affected Software

2 affected componentsFixes available
Mozilla Thunderbird<160
160
Mozilla Thunderbird<153.7
153.7

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade to a fixed release to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 160
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade to a fixed release to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 153.7
  3. Upgrade

    Upgrade Thunderbird to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 160
  4. Upgrade

    Upgrade Thunderbird to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 153.7

Event History

Nov 10, 2026
CVE Published
via Mozilla·12:00 AM
Data Sourced
via Mozilla·12:00 AM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
CVE Published
via MITRE·06:59 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·06:59 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·07:21 PM
Description

Parent advisories

This vulnerability appears in the following advisories.

Peer vulnerabilities

Found alongside the following vulnerabilities.

Frequently Asked Questions

1

Which mail account configurations are affected?

Only SMTP or POP3 connections configured to use STARTTLS are affected. Connections using SSL/TLS instead of STARTTLS are not affected.

2

What must an attacker be able to do to exploit this issue?

The attacker must be able to perform a man-in-the-middle attack on the SMTP or POP3 server connection and inject responses before the TLS handshake completes.

3

What is the practical impact of a successful attack?

An attacker can cause Thunderbird to report a different result for sending or fetching mail and can place attacker-controlled text in error messages. The encrypted connection itself is not compromised, and credentials are not exposed.

Contact

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