CVE-2023-42452

Summary

Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. In versions on the 4.x branch prior to versions 4.0.10, 4.2.8, and 4.2.0-rc2, under certain conditions, attackers can abuse the translation feature to bypass the server-side HTML sanitization, allowing unescaped HTML to execute in the browser. The impact is limited thanks to Mastodon's strict Content Security Policy, blocking inline scripts, etc. However a CSP bypass or loophole could be exploited to execute malicious XSS. Furthermore, it requires user interaction, as this can only occur upon clicking the “Translate” button on a malicious post. Versions 4.0.10, 4.2.8, and 4.2.0-rc2 contain a patch for this issue.

Affected Software

VendorProductVersion RangeStatus
mastodonmastodon>= 4.0.0, < 4.0.10affected
mastodonmastodon>= 4.1.0, < 4.1.8affected
mastodonmastodon>= 4.2.0-beta1, < 4.2.0-rc2affected

Weaknesses

  • CWE-79: CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

ADP Enrichment

CVE Program Container

Additional References

CISA ADP Vulnrichment

  • SSVC:
  • Exploitation: none
    • Automatable: no
    • Technical Impact: partial

References