CVE-2026-72916

Mastodon is a free, open-source social network server based on ActivityPub. Prior to 4.4.21, 4.5.14, 4.6.4, and 4.7.0-beta.1, PrivateAddressCheck.private_address? in app/lib/private_address_check.rb normalized IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses but did not recognize IPv4-compatible IPv6 addresses with IPAddr#ipv4_compat?. An attacker could supply an address in the omitted range to bypass the ALLOWED_PRIVATE_ADDRESSES protection and make Mastodon send HTTP requests to loopback interfaces, potentially accessing private resources and services. Exploitation requires a system that supports the obsolete IPv4-compatible IPv6 mechanism. This issue is fixed in versions 4.4.21, 4.5.14, 4.6.4, and 4.7.0-beta.1.

Published 10 Aug 2026, 22:17 UTC Last modified 10 Aug 2026, 22:17 UTC

6.3

CVSS 4.0 MEDIUM base score

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L/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

Attack profile

The conditions required to exploit this vulnerability and its potential impact.

Attack vector Network

Attack complexity High

Privileges required None

User interaction None

Scope Not assessed

Confidentiality Not assessed

Integrity Not assessed

Availability Not assessed

Affected products

Product applicability statements supplied with the NVD record.

NVD has not published structured affected-product data for this record.

Weakness classification

CWE categories help security teams group the underlying software weakness.

CWECWE-918 CWECWE-1286

Source references

External advisories, patches and technical reports attached to this CVE record.