CVE-2026-54738Network attack vector

Rate-limit bypass via spoofed client IP

Published Aug 19, 2026 · Updated Aug 19, 2026

Rate-limit bypass in Lemmy before 0.19.19 and 1.0.0-beta.1 allows remote attackers to evade request throttling via X-Forwarded-For. In crates/utils/src/rate_limit/mod.rs, raw_ip_key uses actix-web ConnectionInfo::realip_remote_addr, which trusts the first X-Forwarded-For value; Lemmy's bundled nginx config appends the real client address after any client-supplied value with $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for, so the attacker controls the rate-limit bucket key. Unauthenticated requests through the default reverse-proxy path are enough to rotate spoofed addresses across registration, login, posting, comment, search, image-upload, and import endpoints, enabling brute-force attempts, spam, scraping, and excess uploads without compromising code execution or stored data.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.43%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Rate-limit bypass in Lemmy before 0.19.19 and 1.0.0-beta.1 allows remote attackers to evade request throttling via X-Forwarded-For. In crates/utils/src/rate_limit/mod.rs, raw_ip_key uses actix-web ConnectionInfo::realip_remote_addr, which trusts the first X-Forwarded-For value; Lemmy's bundled nginx config appends the real client address after any client-supplied value with $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for, so the attacker controls the rate-limit bucket key. Unauthenticated requests through the default reverse-proxy path are enough to rotate spoofed addresses across registration, login, posting, comment, search, image-upload, and import endpoints, enabling brute-force attempts, spam, scraping, and excess uploads without compromising code execution or stored data.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-54738
Published
Aug 19, 2026
Updated
Aug 19, 2026
Vendor
LemmyNet
Product
Lemmy
Classifications
CWE-799, T1110
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 19, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 19, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 0.19.19
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 1.0.0-alpha.5, < 1.0.0-beta.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

LemmyNet · Lemmyversion=< 0.19.19; version=>= 1.0.0-alpha.5, < 1.0.0-beta.1

Published CVSS scores

6.5GitHub Advisory DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-799Improper Control of Interaction Frequency
T1110Brute Force

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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