Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-25108

Access Control in Pixelfed 0.10.4 – 0.11.11

Public PoCAccess Control
Published
12 February 2024
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.9
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0068 49th percentile
Risk Priority 70 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-25108 is a critical-severity Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges (CWE-280) vulnerability in Pixelfed Pixelfed. Its CVSS base score is 9.9 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 49th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Pixelfed is an open source photo sharing platform. When processing requests authorization was improperly and insufficiently checked, allowing attackers to access far more functionality than users intended, including to the administrative and moderator functionality of the Pixelfed server. This vulnerability…

more

affects every version of Pixelfed between v0.10.4 and v0.11.9, inclusive. A proof of concept of this vulnerability exists. This vulnerability affects every local user of a Pixelfed server, and can potentially affect the servers' ability to federate. Some user interaction is required to setup the conditions to be able to exercise the vulnerability, but the attacker could conduct this attack time-delayed manner, where user interaction is not actively required. This vulnerability has been addressed in version 0.11.11. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Why these techniques?

CVE-2024-25108 is an improper authorization vulnerability in Pixelfed's public-facing API that allows low-privilege (read-scope) access tokens to perform elevated administrative and moderator actions, enabling exploitation of a public-facing application (T1190) and exploitation for privilege escalation (T1068).

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-0914Same product: Pixelfed Pixelfed
CVE-2023-0901Same product: Pixelfed Pixelfed
CVE-2026-33105Shared CWE-285, CWE-863
CVE-2026-2141Shared CWE-285, CWE-863
CVE-2025-6702Shared CWE-285, CWE-863
CVE-2026-27803Shared CWE-285, CWE-863
CVE-2026-9808Shared CWE-863
CVE-2026-41280Shared CWE-863
CVE-2026-44633Shared CWE-863
CVE-2025-55213Shared CWE-863

Affected Assets

pixelfed
pixelfed
0.10.4 — 0.11.11

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 17 hardening rules · 5 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.2
  • V8.3.3

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.

addresses: CWE-285 CWE-863

Documented procedures facilitate correct implementation and ongoing management of authorization decisions.

addresses: CWE-285 CWE-863

Periodic reviews identify and correct flaws in authorization decisions or enforcement.

addresses: CWE-285 CWE-863

Establishing permitted attributes and values, plus auditing changes, ensures authorization decisions are based on correctly managed policy data.

addresses: CWE-285 CWE-863

Explicitly mandates authorizing remote access types before permitting connections, directly mitigating improper authorization.

addresses: CWE-285 CWE-863

The control explicitly requires authorization of each wireless access type prior to permitting connections.

addresses: CWE-285 CWE-863

Mandating explicit authorization of mobile device connections reduces the risk of improper authorization decisions for system access.

addresses: CWE-285 CWE-863

Specifying access authorizations for each account and requiring approvals for account requests enforces proper authorization decisions.

addresses: CWE-285 CWE-863

Requires explicit authorization for individuals to use external systems to access or handle organization-controlled information.

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.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Defining, enforcing and reviewing access permissions with least privilege directly prevents code paths that mishandle insufficient privileges.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices catch and eliminate most authorization defects before release, yet a single broad outcome cannot address every design, role, and runtime facet of CWE-285.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data surfaces adverse events triggered by unhandled permission failures.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

PR.AA-01 supplies managed identities and access-request workflows that can support downstream authorization decisions, yet does nothing to enforce or verify authorization checks inside a product, leaving CWE-285 fully unaddressed by this control alone.

PR.IR-01 partial match
prevents

Network segmentation/zero-trust limits external reachability (partial prevention of exploitation) but leaves application-level authorization logic untouched, so the CWE remains fully introducible and only one facet of its risk is addressed.

PR.PS-04 partial match
prevents

Generating logs of permission-related events enables detection and analysis of improper handling.

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.

detects

Security testing can detect missing or incorrect privilege handling.

prevents

Granular, policy-driven assignment of permissions and dynamic enforcement of those permissions prevent the incorrect or missing authorization decisions that lead to improper authorization flaws.

prevents

By requiring documented authorization rules and periodic policy reviews, the control makes it less likely that authorization decisions will be omitted or implemented inconsistently across applications.

prevents

Defines access-control policy that should prevent insufficient-privilege situations.

degrades

Specifies how access rights are granted, reviewed and revoked, directly addressing privilege handling.

detects

Independent reviewers evaluate whether authorization logic matches policy, thereby reducing the window in which incorrect or missing authorization checks remain in production.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that reduce the attack surface for weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Derived transitively via CVE→CWE→STIG over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248548 OL 8 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. via CWE-280

References