CVE-2026-25540

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

MEDIUM
6.5
CVSS Score
Published: February 4, 2026 at 09:42 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 10:24 AM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsMastodonMastodon

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Severity
MEDIUM6.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.4%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 4.3.194.4.0 ≤ v < 4.4.134.5.0 ≤ v < 4.5.6
v < 4.3.19v < 4.4.13v < 4.5.6
Affected range stops below 4.3.19, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 4.4.13, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 4.5.6, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (1)

x_refsource_CONFIRMVendor Advisory
Source: cverecord
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/security/advisories/GHSA-ccpr-m53r-mfwr

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

6.5MEDIUMGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
LOW
Integrity
NONE
Availability
LOW
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-524

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