CVE-2023-22487: Post mentions can be used to read any post on the forum without access control

Published Jan 11, 2023
·
Updated

Flarum is a forum software for building communities. Using the mentions feature provided by the flarum/mentions extension, users can mention any post ID on the forum with the special @"<username>"#p<id> syntax. The following behavior never changes no matter if the actor should be able to read the mentioned post or not: A URL to the mentioned post is inserted into the actor post HTML, leaking its discussion ID and post number. The mentionsPosts relationship included in the POST /api/posts and PATCH /api/posts/<id> JSON responses leaks the full JSON:API payload of all mentioned posts without any access control. This includes the content, date, number and attributes added by other extensions. An attacker only needs the ability to create new posts on the forum to exploit the vulnerability. This works even if new posts require approval. If they have the ability to edit posts, the attack can be performed even more discreetly by using a single post to scan any size of database and hiding the attack post content afterward. The attack allows the leaking of all posts in the forum database, including posts awaiting approval, posts in tags the user has no access to, and private discussions created by other extensions like FriendsOfFlarum Byobu. This also includes non-comment posts like tag changes or renaming events. The discussion payload is not leaked but using the mention HTML payload it's possible to extract the discussion ID of all posts and combine all posts back together into their original discussions even if the discussion title remains unknown. All Flarum versions prior to 1.6.3 are affected. The vulnerability has been fixed and published as flarum/core v1.6.3. As a workaround, user can disable the mentions extension.

Affected Software

1 affected component
Flarum Flarum<1.6.3

Event History

Jan 11, 2023
CVE Published
via MITRE·07:49 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·07:49 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2023-22487?

CVE-2023-22487 is considered a high severity vulnerability due to the potential for unauthorized access to post mentions.

2

How do I fix CVE-2023-22487?

To fix CVE-2023-22487, update your Flarum installation to version 1.6.3 or later.

3

What does CVE-2023-22487 affect?

CVE-2023-22487 affects the Flarum forum software, specifically the mentions feature in the flarum/mentions extension.

4

Can CVE-2023-22487 be exploited remotely?

Yes, CVE-2023-22487 can be exploited remotely by malicious users through the forum mentioning feature.

5

What should users do if they cannot update to fix CVE-2023-22487?

If you cannot update to fix CVE-2023-22487, consider disabling the mentions feature until you can apply a security patch.

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