CVE-2023-32683 | URL deny list bypass via oEmbed and image URLs when generating previews in Synapse

Synapse is a Matrix protocol homeserver written in Python with the Twisted framework. A discovered oEmbed or image URL can bypass the `url_preview_url_blacklist` setting potentially allowing server side request forgery or bypassing network policies. Impact is limited to IP addresses allowed by the `url_preview_ip_range_blacklist` setting (by default this only allows public IPs) and by the limited information returned to the client: 1. For discovered oEmbed URLs, any non-JSON response or a JSON response which includes non-oEmbed information is discarded. 2. For discovered image URLs, any non-image response is discarded. Systems which have URL preview disabled (via the `url_preview_enabled` setting) or have not configured a `url_preview_url_blacklist` are not affected. This issue has been addressed in version 1.85.0. Users are advised to upgrade. User unable to upgrade may also disable URL previews.

Published: 2023-06-06 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-32683 is rated Low Risk (29.8/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.60%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-32683

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.25% 0.60% +0.35%
2 2025-11-21 0.23% 0.25% +0.02%
3 2025-11-18 0.23%

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-32683

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
3.5 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.1 1.4 [email protected]
5.4 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.8 2.5 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-32683

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-32683

GHSA-98px-6486-j7qc · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: pip — Synapse has URL deny list bypass via oEmbed and image URLs when generating previews

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-32683

vendor priority summary link
alpine medium CVE-2023-32683: 1 source package rows (synapse); 28 state rows across 6 repos (3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 6, open 22. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-32683
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-32683 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (matrix-synapse), 2 status rows across 2 suites (forky, sid): resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-32683
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-32683 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (matrix-synapse), 11 status rows across 11 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 5, released 4, not-affected 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-32683

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-32683

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
matrix synapse < 1.85.0 cpe:2.3:a:matrix:synapse:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-32683

cvelogic Threat Intelligence