Trusted message impersonation via Megolm protocol confusion
Published Sep 28, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025
Protocol confusion in Matrix Android SDK 2 before 1.5.1 allows remote attackers to impersonate trusted senders in to-device messages. The SDK accepts Megolm-encrypted to-device messages where Olm is required and treats the claimed Megolm sender as the authenticated origin. Exploitation requires an attacker cooperating with a malicious homeserver and permits forged messages or malicious key-backup injection to inherit device trust.
Summary
What happened
Protocol confusion in Matrix Android SDK 2 before 1.5.1 allows remote attackers to impersonate trusted senders in to-device messages. The SDK accepts Megolm-encrypted to-device messages where Olm is required and treats the claimed Megolm sender as the authenticated origin. Exploitation requires an attacker cooperating with a malicious homeserver and permits forged messages or malicious key-backup injection to inherit device trust.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-39248
- Published
- Sep 28, 2022
- Updated
- Apr 23, 2025
- Vendor
- Matrix.org
- Product
- Matrix Android SDK 2
- Classifications
- CWE-322, CWE-287, T1565.002
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 28, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 23, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=< 1.5.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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