Description
An issue was discovered in Django 6.0 before 6.0.6 and 5.2 before 5.2.15. `django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend` in Django fails to prevent reuse of a partially-initialized connection after a failed `STARTTLS` handshake when `fail_silently=True`, which allows on-path network attackers to read email content via cleartext interception. Earlier, unsupported Django series (such as 5.0.x, 4.1.x, and 3.2.x) were not evaluated and may also be affected. Django would like to thank Kasper Dupont for reporting this issue.
Problem types
CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
Product status
6.0 (python) before 6.0.6
6.0.6 (python)
5.2 (python) before 5.2.15
5.2.15 (python)
Timeline
| 2026-04-22: | Initial report received. |
| 2026-05-12: | Vulnerability confirmed. |
| 2026-06-03: | Security release issued. |
Credits
Kasper Dupont
Jake Howard
Natalia Bidart
References
docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/releases/security/ (Django security archive)
groups.google.com/g/django-announce (Django releases announcements)
www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2026/jun/03/security-releases/ (Django security releases issued: 6.0.6 and 5.2.15)