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Mastodon CVE-2022-46405

HIGH
Uncontrolled Recursion (CWE-674)
2022-12-04 cve@mitre.org
7.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Recursion depth limits
Impact

CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

This vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network. Successful exploitation could compromise the high-severity affected system.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 0.9% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

Mastodon through 4.0.2 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (large Sidekiq pull queue) by creating bot accounts that follow attacker-controlled accounts on certain other servers associated. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-674. Mastodon through 4.0.2 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (large Sidekiq pull queue) by creating bot accounts that follow attacker-controlled accounts on certain other servers associated with a wildcard DNS A record, such that there is uncontrolled recursion of attacker-generated messages. Affected products include: Joinmastodon Mastodon. Version information: through 4.0.2.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 7.5 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

Mastodon through 4.0.2 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (large Sidekiq pull queue) by creating bot accounts that follow attacker-controlled accounts on certain other servers associated with a wildcard DNS A record, such that there is uncontrolled recursion of attacker-generated messages.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.9%
Top 44% exploitable
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
Data Quality
2 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC Yes
EPSS 0.9%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

59
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +38
PoC: +20
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:joinmastodon:mastodon:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
CVE-2024-25618 HIGH POC
7.4 Feb 14

Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnera

CVE-2023-28853 MEDIUM POC
6.5 Apr 04

Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub Mastodon allows configuration of LDAP for aut

CVE-2023-36460 CRITICAL
9.9 Jul 06

Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.9), this vul

CVE-2024-23832 CRITICAL
9.8 Feb 01

Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub Mastodon allows configuration of LDAP for aut

CVE-2022-2166 CRITICAL
9.8 Nov 16

Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts in GitHub repository mastodon/mastodon prior to 4.0.0. Rated c

CVE-2026-46348 HIGH
8.7 Jun 24

Server-Side Request Forgery in Mastodon before 4.5.10, 4.4.17, and 4.3.23 lets attackers coerce the server into issuing

CVE-2026-47389 HIGH
8.6 Jun 24

Server-side request forgery in Mastodon (versions before 4.5.10, 4.4.17, and 4.3.23) lets an attacker who controls autho

CVE-2026-33868 MEDIUM POC
4.3 Mar 27

Mastodon prior to versions 4.5.8, 4.4.15, and 4.3.21 contains an unauthenticated Open Redirect vulnerability in the `/we

CVE-2026-27468 HIGH
8.2 Feb 24

Unauthenticated attackers can bypass FASP administrator approval in Mastodon 4.4.0-4.4.13 and 4.5.0-4.5.6 to subscribe t

CVE-2026-41259 HIGH
8.2 Apr 23

Sign-up restriction bypass in Mastodon (self-hosted ActivityPub social server) before v4.5.9, v4.4.16, and v4.3.22 allow

CVE-2024-37903 HIGH
8.2 Jul 05

Mastodon is a self-hosted, federated microblogging platform. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is remot

CVE-2024-25623 HIGH
7.7 Feb 19

Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.7), this vulnera

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