GHSA-x4f6-mqg6-28xx
Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Primary rating from Vendor (CNA) · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorVendor
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Lifecycle Timeline
2Description PRE-NVD
Articles & Coverage 1
AnalysisAI
Insufficient validation of user-supplied avatar image URLs in Apache Answer through 2.0.0 allows authenticated users to set arbitrary external URLs as profile images, causing the platform or clients to issue outbound HTTP requests to attacker-controlled servers on page load. This exposes user IP addresses, HTTP headers, and browsing activity to third-party infrastructure whenever affected profiles are viewed. Rated moderate severity by Apache; no public exploit identified at time of analysis and not listed in CISA KEV.
Technical ContextAI
Apache Answer is an open-source Go-based Q&A platform (~15.5k GitHub stars) used for community forums, help centers, and knowledge management. The vulnerability exists in the custom avatar feature, where the server accepts user-supplied image URLs without sufficiently restricting the external hosts or schemes those URLs reference. Although the CVE classification references CWE-434 (Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type) in its title, the described behavior - embedding arbitrary external URLs that trigger outbound HTTP requests - more precisely aligns with an input validation failure (CWE-20) or a server-side request forgery vector (CWE-918). The root cause is the absence of an allowlist or domain restriction on the avatar URL input field. No CPE string was provided in the available data; the affected component is the profile/avatar subsystem of Apache Answer through version 2.0.0.
RemediationAI
Upgrade Apache Answer to version 2.0.1, which is the vendor-confirmed fix per the oss-security advisory (https://seclists.org/oss-sec/2026/q2/850) and the Apache Answer project site (https://answer.apache.org). If immediate upgrade is not feasible, a compensating control is to implement a domain allowlist at the web application firewall or reverse proxy layer, blocking outbound HTTP requests initiated by user-supplied avatar URLs to non-approved external hosts - note this may break legitimate use of third-party avatar hosting services. Alternatively, the platform could be configured to proxy and cache avatar images server-side through a trusted image-fetching service, stripping direct user-to-attacker-server connections, though this adds infrastructure complexity. No other vendor-confirmed workarounds were identified in the available data.
Authentication Bypass by Capture-replay in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to 1.0.6. Rated critical severity (C
Improper Access Control in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to 1.0.4. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this v
Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Generic in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to 1.0.4. Rated critical severity (CVSS
Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Stored in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to 1.0.4. Rated critical severity (CVSS
Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - DOM in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to 1.0.4. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.0
Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Stored in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to 1.0.4. Rated critical severity (CVSS
Missing Authentication for Critical Function in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to v1.1.3. Rated high severity
Insufficient Session Expiration in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to v1.1.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), t
Weak Password Requirements in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to v1.1.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this v
Password Aging with Long Expiration in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to 1.0.6. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8)
Insufficient Session Expiration in GitHub repository answerdev/answer prior to 1.0.6. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), th
Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition') in GitHub repository answerd
Same technique File Upload
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2026-35370