CVE-2021-39163
August 31, 2021
Matrix is an ecosystem for open federated Instant Messaging and Voice over IP. In versions 1.41.0 and prior, unauthorised users can access the name, avatar, topic and number of members of a room if they know the ID of the room. This vulnerability is limited to homeservers where the vulnerable homeserver is in the room and untrusted users are permitted to create groups (communities). By default, only homeserver administrators can create groups. However, homeserver administrators can already access this information in the database or using the admin API. As a result, only homeservers where the configuration setting "enable_group_creation" has been set to "true" are impacted. Server administrators should upgrade to 1.41.1 or higher to patch the vulnerability. There are two potential workarounds. Server administrators can set "enable_group_creation" to "false" in their homeserver configuration (this is the default value) to prevent creation of groups by non-administrators. Administrators that are using a reverse proxy could, with partial loss of group functionality, block the endpoints "/_matrix/client/r0/groups/{group_id}/rooms" and "/_matrix/client/unstable/groups/{group_id}/rooms".
Affected Packages
matrix-synapse (PYTHON):
Affected version(s) >=0.33.5 <1.41.1Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.41.1Related ResourcesĀ (12)
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Contact UsCVSS v4
Base Score:
2.3
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
HIGH
Attack Requirements
NONE
Privileges Required
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Vulnerable System Confidentiality
LOW
Vulnerable System Integrity
NONE
Vulnerable System Availability
NONE
Subsequent System Confidentiality
NONE
Subsequent System Integrity
NONE
Subsequent System Availability
NONE
CVSS v3
Base Score:
3.1
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
HIGH
Privileges Required
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
LOW
Integrity
NONE
Availability
NONE
CVSS v2
Base Score:
3.5
Access Vector
NETWORK
Access Complexity
MEDIUM
Authentication
SINGLE
Confidentiality Impact
PARTIAL
Integrity Impact
NONE
Availability Impact
NONE
Weakness Type (CWE)
Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
EPSS
Base Score:
0.27