Private-post disclosure via premature follow completion
Published Mar 25, 2025 · Updated Mar 26, 2025
Incorrect authorization in Pixelfed before 0.12.5 allows remote authenticated users to read private posts from federated accounts. ApiV1Controller records a remote follow as completed without waiting for the remote server's Accept activity, even when that server rejects or leaves the request pending. Exposure requires the victim to have at least one legitimate follower on the same Pixelfed instance, which has already received the private posts.
Summary
What happened
Incorrect authorization in Pixelfed before 0.12.5 allows remote authenticated users to read private posts from federated accounts. ApiV1Controller records a remote follow as completed without waiting for the remote server's Accept activity, even when that server rejects or leaves the request pending. Exposure requires the victim to have at least one legitimate follower on the same Pixelfed instance, which has already received the private posts.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-30741
- Published
- Mar 25, 2025
- Updated
- Mar 26, 2025
- Vendor
- Pixelfed
- Product
- Pixelfed
- Classifications
- CWE-863, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 25, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 26, 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=0 <0.12.5
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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.
Public exploit references
- Remote private-account follow bypass procedurefunctional · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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