CVE-2023-42452 json
Mastodon vulnerable to Stored XSS through the translation feature
published 2023-09-19 3 y ago modified 2026-09-08 2 mo ago also BIT-mastodon-2023-42452 , EUVD-2023-46898 , GHSA-2693-xr3m-jhqr
- cvss
- 6.1
- version 3.1, CNA
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.4%
- EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 38%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
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.
Patch / fix
- bitnami mastodon 4.0.10, 4.1.8
- joinmastodon mastodon 4.0.10, 4.1.8
CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
- Assessed
- 2 y ago
Exploit prediction
0.44% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 38% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 3.1 | 6.1 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N |
| NVD | 3.1 | 5.4 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N |
| OSV | 3.1 | 5.4 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N |
Affected packages
| ecosystem | package | affected | fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| bitnami | mastodon | >=4.0.0, <4.0.10 >=4.1.0, <4.1.8 |
4.0.10 4.1.8 |
Affected products
- mastodon mastodon
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation
References
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2023-42452
- NVD CVE-2023-42452
- OSV BIT-mastodon-2023-42452
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