CVE-2026-58593
highpriority · track · 0OT risk · elevatedEPSS 0.003 · 21 %ileEUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
NodeBB does not bind the claimed author of an inbound ActivityPub object to the authenticated remote actor. The inbound middleware verifies the HTTP-signature actor and checks the origin of object.id, but never validates that attributedTo corresponds to the sender. In the object mock, attributedTo is used directly as a uid, and actors.assert silently ignores numeric identifiers (filtering them out without re-deriving the uid), so a federated remote actor can set attributedTo to a bare numeric value such as 1 and have the resulting post or private message created with that local uid as author, including the administrator account. This lets a remote attacker forge posts and direct messages attributed to arbitrary local users. Requires the ActivityPub/federation feature to be enabled.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · medium–high · 6.6–8.7
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (2)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
also known as (3)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
sources
Which sources assert this record, and when.
references (10)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/blob/v4.13.2/src/activitypub/mocks.jscnnvd
- https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/tree/v4.13.2Patchcnnvd
- https://github.com/bikini/exploitarium/tree/main/nodebb-activitypub-attributedto-local-uid-spoof-poccnnvd
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nodebb-activitypub-author-spoofing-via-unvalidated-attributedto-mapped-to-local-usercnnvd
- https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/blob/v4.13.2/src/activitypub/mocks.jsenisa_euvd
- https://github.com/bikini/exploitarium/tree/main/nodebb-activitypub-attributedto-local-uid-spoof-pocenisa_euvd
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nodebb-activitypub-author-spoofing-via-unvalidated-attributedto-mapped-to-local-userenisa_euvd
- https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/blob/v4.13.2/src/activitypub/mocks.jsExploitThird Party Advisorynvd
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