Mastodon: Spoofing of attribution domains
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · Low · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. From 4.3.0 until 4.5.11 and 4.4.18, Mastodon has a feature to let websites credit authors of their articles. To prevent false attribution claims, Mastodon uses the attributionDomains JSON-LD term, however, an error in how it is defined makes Linked Data Signatures on the toot:attributionDomains property ineffective. An attacker can arbitrarily modify the attributionDomains value of a legitimately signed Update activity and bypass Mastodon’s signature verification. This vulnerability is fixed in 4.5.11 and 4.4.18.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA mastodon (mastodon) Fixed in 4.5.11, 4.4.18
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-50128
More mastodon vulnerabilities
- TI-2022-02004 Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts in mastodon/mastodon CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2025-34613 Mastodon e‑mail throttle misconfiguration allows unlimited email confirmations against unconfirmed emails CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2022-22936 Mastodon through 4.0.2 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (large Sidekiq pull… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2023-18301 Mastodon vulnerable to arbitrary file creation through media attachments CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2023-13359 Mastodon's blind LDAP injection in login allows the attacker to leak arbitrary attributes from LDAP database CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.7
- TI-2024-16846 External OpenID Connect Account Takeover by E-Mail Change in mastodon CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.4
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences