Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2023-36460 is a critical-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Joinmastodon Mastodon. Its CVSS base score is 9.9 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
Mastodon, an open-source ActivityPub-based social network server, contains a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) in its media processing code. The flaw affects versions 3.5.0 through 3.5.8, 4.0.0 through 4.0.4, and 4.1.0 through 4.1.2; specially crafted media files can cause the server to write arbitrary files to any location on the filesystem accessible to the Mastodon process.
An attacker with a low-privileged account can upload the malicious media over the network and achieve arbitrary file creation or overwrite. This grants the ability to perform denial-of-service attacks by corrupting critical files and, in many deployments, to obtain remote code execution by placing attacker-controlled content in executable locations or configuration paths.
Patches addressing the issue were released in Mastodon 3.5.9, 4.0.5, and 4.1.3; the corresponding fix is tracked in commit dc8f1fbd976ae544720a4e07120d9a91b2722440. Administrators should upgrade to one of the patched versions and verify that media upload handling is restricted to trusted users until the update is applied. The EPSS score has remained flat at 0.4485 with no observed rise after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-40422
Vulnerability Data
Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Starting in version 3.5.0 and prior to versions 3.5.9, 4.0.5, and 4.1.3, attackers using carefully crafted media files can cause Mastodon's media processing code to create arbitrary files at…
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any location. This allows attackers to create and overwrite any file Mastodon has access to, allowing Denial of Service and arbitrary Remote Code Execution. Versions 3.5.9, 4.0.5, and 4.1.3 contain a patch for this issue.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Validates pathnames and filenames to prevent traversal outside intended directories.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.
PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.
Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.
Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.
Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.
Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.