Signed-activity content hiding via incomplete normalization
Published Jun 24, 2026 · Updated Jun 24, 2026
Integrity-check bypass in Mastodon 4.3.22 and earlier allows remote attackers to hide fields in signed ActivityPub activities. The same flaw affects 4.4.0-beta.1 through 4.4.16 and 4.5.0-beta.1 through 4.5.9; incoming-activity normalization accepts a Linked-Data-Signed object after selected JSON entries are removed. Exploitation requires access to the original signed activity through mechanisms such as inbox forwarding or a subscribed relay, and the receiving server treats the reduced object as complete.
Summary
What happened
Integrity-check bypass in Mastodon 4.3.22 and earlier allows remote attackers to hide fields in signed ActivityPub activities. The same flaw affects 4.4.0-beta.1 through 4.4.16 and 4.5.0-beta.1 through 4.5.9; incoming-activity normalization accepts a Linked-Data-Signed object after selected JSON entries are removed. Exploitation requires access to the original signed activity through mechanisms such as inbox forwarding or a subscribed relay, and the receiving server treats the reduced object as complete.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-48028
- Published
- Jun 24, 2026
- Updated
- Jun 24, 2026
- Vendor
- Mastodon
- Product
- Mastodon
- Classifications
- CWE-354, T1565.002
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 24, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jun 24, 2026Record 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=< 4.3.23
- Affected versionversion=>= 4.4.0-beta.1, < 4.4.17
- Affected versionversion=>= 4.5.0-beta.1, < 4.5.10
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.
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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