CVE-2023-36462
Mastodon's verified profile links can be formatted in a misleading way
Description
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.
How to fix CVE-2023-36462
To remediate CVE-2023-36462, upgrade the affected package to a fixed version below.
- —upgrade to 3.5.9 or later
Is CVE-2023-36462 being exploited?
Low — EPSS is 1.6%, meaning exploitation activity has not been observed at scale.
Affected packages (1)
- >= 2.6.0, < 3.5.9, >= 4.0.0, < 4.0.5, >= 4.1.0, < 4.1.3
CVSS scores
| Source | Version | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| osv | CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM5.4 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N |