Mastodon
CVE-2023-36460
CRITICAL
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V5 - File Handling Path canonicalization, traversal prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Discovery, Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 9.9 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could access files and directories outside the intended path by sending crafted requests to the affected application. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Validate and canonicalize file paths. Use chroot or sandboxing. Reject input containing path separators or '../' sequences.
Affects your stack
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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 as Path Traversal (CWE-22), which allows attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path. Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Starting in version 3.5.0 and prior to versions 3.5.9, 4.0.5, and 4.1.3, attackers using carefully crafted media files can cause Mastodon's media processing code to create arbitrary files at any location. This allows attackers to create and overwrite any file Mastodon has access to, allowing Denial of Service and arbitrary Remote Code Execution. Versions 3.5.9, 4.0.5, and 4.1.3 contain a patch for this issue. Affected products include: Joinmastodon Mastodon. Version information: version 3.5.0.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Starting in version 3.5.0 and prior to versions 3.5.9, 4.0.5, and 4.1.3, attackers using carefully crafted media files can cause Mastodon's media processing code to create arbitrary files at any location. This allows attackers to create and overwrite any file Mastodon has access to, allowing Denial of Service and arbitrary Remote Code Execution. Versions 3.5.9, 4.0.5, and 4.1.3 contain a patch for this issue.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Path traversal exploits occur when applications use user-controlled input to construct file system paths without proper validation.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
Mastodon through 4.0.2 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (large Sidekiq pull queue) by creating bot accounts
Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnera
Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub Mastodon allows configuration of LDAP for aut
Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub Mastodon allows configuration of LDAP for aut
Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts in GitHub repository mastodon/mastodon prior to 4.0.0. Rated c
Server-Side Request Forgery in Mastodon before 4.5.10, 4.4.17, and 4.3.23 lets attackers coerce the server into issuing
Server-side request forgery in Mastodon (versions before 4.5.10, 4.4.17, and 4.3.23) lets an attacker who controls autho
Mastodon prior to versions 4.5.8, 4.4.15, and 4.3.21 contains an unauthenticated Open Redirect vulnerability in the `/we
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
Sign-up restriction bypass in Mastodon (self-hosted ActivityPub social server) before v4.5.9, v4.4.16, and v4.3.22 allow
Mastodon is a self-hosted, federated microblogging platform. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is remot
Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.7), this vulnera
Exploit-DB