CVE-2023-36462 MEDIUM

CVE-2023-36462: Mastodon's verified profile links can be formatted in a misleading way

Vendor Mastodon
Product mastodon
Weakness CWE-20 · Input validation
Published July 6, 2023
Last update October 24, 2024

CVSS base score

5.4/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction Required
Confidentiality Low
Integrity Low

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

What the vulnerability does

01Description

Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Starting in version 2.6.0 and prior to versions 3.5.9, 4.0.5, and 4.1.3, an attacker can craft a verified profile link using specific formatting to conceal arbitrary parts of the link, enabling it to appear to link to a different URL altogether. The link is visually misleading, but clicking on it will reveal the actual link. This can still be used for phishing, though, similar to IDN homograph attacks. Versions 3.5.9, 4.0.5, and 4.1.3 contain a patch for this issue.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

July 6, 2023 CVE published
October 24, 2024 Record updated