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Fencer Vulns
medium 6.5

CVE-2023-38487 json

HedgeDoc API allows to hide existing notes

published 2023-08-04 3 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2023-42303

cvss
6.5
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.8%
EPSS 0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 56%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

HedgeDoc is software for creating real-time collaborative markdown notes. Prior to version 1.9.9, the API of HedgeDoc 1 can be used to create notes with an alias matching the ID of existing notes. The affected existing note can then not be accessed anymore and is effectively hidden by the new one.

When the freeURL feature is enabled (by setting the `allowFreeURL` config option or the `CMD_ALLOW_FREEURL` environment variable to `true`), any user with the appropriate permissions can create a note by making a POST request to the `/new/<ALIAS>` API endpoint. The `<ALIAS>` parameter can be set to the ID of an existing note. HedgeDoc did not verify whether the provided `<ALIAS>` value corresponds to a valid ID of an existing note and always allowed creation of the new note. When a visitor tried to access the existing note, HedgeDoc will first search for a note with a matching alias before it searches using the ID, therefore only the new note can be accessed.

Depending on the permission settings of the HedgeDoc instance, the issue can be exploited only by logged-in users or by all (including non-logged-in) users. The exploit requires knowledge of the ID of the target note. Attackers could use this issue to present a manipulated copy of the original note to the user, e.g. by replacing the links with malicious ones. Attackers can also use this issue to prevent access to the original note, causing a denial of service. No data is lost, as the original content of the affected notes is still present in the database.

This issue was fixed in version 1.9.9. As a workaround, disabling freeURL mode prevents the exploitation of this issue. The impact can be limited by restricting freeURL note creation to trusted, logged-in users by enabling `requireFreeURLAuthentication`/`CMD_REQUIRE_FREEURL_AUTHENTICATION`.

Patch / fix

  • hedgedoc hedgedoc 1.9.9

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
2 y ago

Exploit prediction

0.79% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 56% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/hedgedoc/hedgedoc/security/advisories/GHSA-7494-7hcf-vxpg referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 6.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
NVD 3.1 8.2 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

Affected products

  • hedgedoc hedgedoc

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-289 Authentication Bypass by Alternate Name

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.