CVE-2026-26079: Roundcube Webmail CSS Injection Vulnerability

CVE-2026-26079 Overview

CVE-2026-26079 is a Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) injection vulnerability affecting Roundcube Webmail versions before 1.5.13 and 1.6.x before 1.6.13. The vulnerability exists due to improper handling of CSS comments, which allows attackers to inject malicious CSS code into webmail content. This type of vulnerability can be exploited to exfiltrate sensitive information, manipulate the visual appearance of emails, or conduct phishing attacks by modifying the user interface.

Critical Impact
Attackers can inject arbitrary CSS through crafted email content, potentially enabling data exfiltration via CSS selectors, UI manipulation for phishing, or tracking user activity without JavaScript execution.

Affected Products

Roundcube Webmail versions prior to 1.5.13
Roundcube Webmail versions 1.6.x prior to 1.6.13
Self-hosted and managed Roundcube installations using vulnerable versions

Discovery Timeline

February 8, 2026 - Roundcube releases security updates 1.6.13 and 1.5.13
February 11, 2026 - CVE-2026-26079 published to NVD
February 11, 2026 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-26079

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability exists within Roundcube Webmail's CSS sanitization mechanism, specifically in the rcube_utils.php file. The root cause stems from inadequate handling of HTML and CSS comments within inline styles and style blocks. Prior to the patch, the CSS sanitization function failed to properly remove CSS comments before performing security checks, allowing attackers to craft malicious CSS that could bypass the XSS and injection filters.

CSS injection vulnerabilities are particularly concerning in webmail applications because they can be exploited without requiring JavaScript execution. Attackers can leverage CSS selectors to detect the presence of specific content, exfiltrate data character-by-character using attribute selectors and external resource loading, or manipulate the visual presentation to conduct sophisticated phishing attacks. According to the commit messages, this vulnerability was reported by CERT Polska.

Root Cause

The vulnerability originates from a flaw in the comment handling logic within the mod_css_styles function in program/lib/Roundcube/rcube_utils.php. The original implementation removed HTML comments but did not properly strip CSS comments before performing security validation. This allowed attackers to embed malicious CSS directives within comment structures that would be preserved and rendered by the browser.

The fix introduces a dedicated remove_css_comments() function and adds additional validation to detect any remaining comment markers after the sanitization process. If comments are still present after removal, the entire CSS block is flagged as malicious and replaced with /* evil! */.

Attack Vector

The attack can be carried out remotely over the network by sending a specially crafted email containing malicious CSS to a Roundcube user. The user must open or preview the email for the attack to succeed, requiring user interaction. The attack does not require authentication on the attacker's part, as they only need to send an email to the target.

The security patch addresses this by implementing comprehensive CSS comment removal:

php

            return '/* invalid! */';
        }

+        // remove html and css comments
+        $source = preg_replace('/(^\s*<\!--)|(-->\s*$)/m', '', $source);
+        $source = self::remove_css_comments($source);
+
        // To prevent from a double-escaping tricks we consider a script with
        // any escape sequences (after de-escaping them above) an evil script.
        // This probably catches many valid scripts, but we\'re on the safe side.
        if (preg_match('/\\\\[0-9a-fA-F]{2}/', $source)) {
            return '/* evil! */';
        }

-        // remove html comments
-        $source = preg_replace('/(^\s*<\!--)|(-->\s*$)/m', '', $source);
+        // If after removing comments there are still comments it's most likely a hack
+        if (strpos('/*', $source) !== false || strpos('<!--', $source) !== false) {
+            return '/* evil! */';
+        }

        $url_callback = static function ($url) use ($allow_remote) {
            if (strpos($url, 'data:image') === 0) {

Source: Roundcube Security Commit

A subsequent commit fixed a regression in the argument order for strpos():

php

        }

        // If after removing comments there are still comments it's most likely a hack
-        if (strpos('/*', $source) !== false || strpos('<!--', $source) !== false) {
+        if (strpos($source, '/*') !== false || strpos($source, '<!--') !== false) {
            return '/* evil! */';
        }

Source: Roundcube Regression Fix

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-26079

Indicators of Compromise

Emails containing unusual CSS comment structures such as nested /* and */ patterns or mixed HTML/CSS comments
CSS containing external resource references via url() functions pointing to suspicious domains
Attribute selectors in email CSS targeting sensitive form fields or CSRF tokens
User reports of emails displaying unexpected visual modifications or overlay elements

Detection Strategies

Monitor inbound email logs for messages containing complex CSS with multiple comment delimiters
Implement content inspection rules to flag emails with CSS containing @import, url(), or attribute selectors targeting sensitive elements
Review web server access logs for requests to external resources triggered by CSS in emails
Deploy email security gateways with CSS injection detection capabilities

Monitoring Recommendations

Audit Roundcube installation versions across your environment to identify vulnerable instances
Enable verbose logging in Roundcube to capture CSS sanitization events
Monitor for anomalous external HTTP requests originating from Roundcube server processes
Implement alerting on email content patterns matching known CSS injection techniques

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-26079

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade all Roundcube Webmail installations to version 1.5.13 or 1.6.13 immediately
If running version 1.6.x, upgrade to 1.6.13; if running version 1.5.x, upgrade to 1.5.13
Review recent email traffic for potential exploitation attempts
Notify users about the vulnerability and advise caution when opening emails from untrusted sources

Patch Information

Roundcube has released security updates addressing this vulnerability. Organizations should upgrade to the patched versions through their standard update process. The fixes are available in the following releases:

Roundcube 1.5.13 for the 1.5.x branch
Roundcube 1.6.13 for the 1.6.x branch

For detailed information about the security updates, refer to the Roundcube Security Update Announcement.

Workarounds

If immediate patching is not possible, consider configuring a Content Security Policy (CSP) that restricts inline styles
Implement email gateway filtering to strip or sanitize CSS from incoming emails
Disable HTML email rendering and force plain-text display until patches can be applied
Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule to block requests containing suspicious CSS comment patterns

bash

# Example: Verify Roundcube version and update
# Check current version
cat /path/to/roundcube/index.php | grep "define.*RCUBE_VERSION"

# For Debian/Ubuntu with apt-managed installation
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade roundcube

# For manual installations, download and extract the latest release
cd /var/www/
wget https://github.com/roundcube/roundcubemail/releases/download/1.6.13/roundcubemail-1.6.13-complete.tar.gz
tar -xzf roundcubemail-1.6.13-complete.tar.gz