A user can tell curl to require a successful upgrade to TLS when speaking
to an IMAP, POP3 or FTP server (--ssl-reqd
on the command line or
CURLOPT_USE_SSL
set to CURLUSESSL_CONTROL
or CURLUSESSL_ALL
with
libcurl). This requirement could be bypassed if the server would return a
properly crafted but perfectly legitimate response.
This flaw would then make curl silently continue its operations without TLS contrary to the instructions and expectations, exposing possibly sensitive data in clear text over the network.