CVE-2026-25540 | Mastodon's signature-dependent ActivityPub collection responses cached under signature-independent keys (Web Cache Poisoning via `Rails.cache`)

Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Prior to versions 4.3.19, 4.4.13, 4.5.6, Mastodon is vulnerable to web cache poisoning via `Rails.cache. When AUTHORIZED_FETCH is enabled, the ActivityPub endpoints for pinned posts and featured hashtags have contents that depend on the account that signed the HTTP request. However, these contents are stored in an internal cache and reused with no regards to the signing actor. As a result, an empty response generated for a blocked user account may be served to requests from legitimate non-blocked actors, or conversely, content intended for non-blocked actors may be returned to blocked actors. This issue has been patched in versions 4.3.19, 4.4.13, 4.5.6.

Published: 2026-02-04 Last update: 2026-02-20 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-25540 is rated Low Risk (27.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2026-25540

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 2026-03-21 0.05% 0.02% -0.03%
2 2026-02-21 0.04% 0.05% +0.01%
3 2026-02-05 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-25540

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L 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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 2.5 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-25540

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-25540

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
joinmastodon mastodon < 4.3.19 cpe:2.3:a:joinmastodon:mastodon:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
joinmastodon mastodon >= 4.4.0, < 4.4.13 cpe:2.3:a:joinmastodon:mastodon:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
joinmastodon mastodon >= 4.5.0, < 4.5.6 cpe:2.3:a:joinmastodon:mastodon:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-25540

cvelogic Threat Intelligence