Vulnerabilities

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.

NodeBB v4.3.0 is vulnerable to SQL injection in its search-categories API endpoint (/api/v3/search/categories). The search query parameter is not properly sanitized, allowing unauthenticated, remote attackers to inject boolean-based blind and PostgreSQL error-based payloads.

CVE-2025-29513 is a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) flaw, CWE-79, in NodeBB, an open-source forum platform, present in version 4.0.4 and all earlier versions. It arises in the admin control panel's API access token generator, where a remote attacker can store arbitrary code that later executes in an administrator's browser when the affected admin panel area is viewed. Successful execution lets the attacker run JavaScript in an administrator's session context, potentially enabling privileged forum actions, creation or manipulation of API access tokens, or account/session tampering; the 6.1 (medium) CVSS score with scope changed, user interaction required, and low confidentiality/integrity impacts reflects this admin-context impact. Any NodeBB deployment running version 4.0.4 or earlier is affected. No public proof-of-concept or confirmed in-the-wild exploitation is known and the flaw is not in CISA KEV, but EPSS assigns an elevated 41.5% probability of exploitation within 30 days (99th percentile), so patching should not be deferred.

Do: Upgrade NodeBB to a release later than 4.0.4 that includes the vendor fix — no fixed version number is given in the available data, so check NodeBB's official advisories or repository for the patched release — and review existing admin API access tokens for unexpected or unfamiliar entries. Until patched, restrict access to the admin control panel and its API token generator, since the stored script fires when an administrator views the affected admin page.

NodeBB forum software v3.11.0 contains a persistent (stored) cross-site scripting vulnerability (CWE-79) in the 'About Me' section of user profiles. A remote authenticated user can save arbitrary script or markup in their own profile, and the payload executes in the browsers of other users — including moderators and administrators — whenever they view that profile. Successful exploitation lets the attacker run JavaScript in the victim's session, enabling actions such as cookie theft or performing actions on the victim's behalf; the CVSS 3.1 score of 4.6 (medium) reflects limited confidentiality/integrity impact and the required user interaction. Any NodeBB community running v3.11.0 is affected per the advisory, though the data does not specify whether other versions are impacted. A public proof of concept has been published, the issue is not in CISA's KEV, and EPSS assigns a 39.3% probability of exploitation within 30 days (99th percentile), so defenders should treat this as a realistic near-term threat.

Do: Upgrade NodeBB to a release newer than v3.11.0 once a patched version is available, and monitor the vendor's releases for the official fix. As interim mitigation, disable or restrict the profile 'About Me' field (or sanitize its HTML) and have administrators review existing profiles for injected scripts or links. Because injection requires an account, prioritize reviewing recently registered or low-trust user profiles.

NodeBB 3.6.7 is vulnerable to Incorrect Access Control, e.g., a low-privileged attacker can access the restricted tabs for the Admin group via "isadmin":true.

Denial-of-service in NodeBB <= v2.8.10 allows unauthenticated attackers to trigger a crash, when invoking `eventName.startsWith()` or `eventName.toString()`, while processing Socket.IO messages via crafted Socket.IO messages containing array or object type for the event name respectively.

A remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in the xmlrpc.php endpoint of NodeBB Inc NodeBB forum software prior to v1.18.6 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted XML-RPC requests.

NodeBB is affected by a Cross-Site WebSocket Hijacking vulnerability due to missing validation of the request origin. Exploitation of this vulnerability allows certain user information to be extracted by attacker.

NodeBB is Node.js based forum software. Starting in version 2.5.0 and prior to version 2.8.7, due to the use of the object destructuring assignment syntax in the user export code path, combined with a path traversal vulnerability, a specially crafted payload could invoke the user export logic to arbitrarily execute javascript files on the local disk. This issue is patched in version 2.8.7. As a workaround, site maintainers can cherry pick the fix into their codebase to patch the exploit.

NodeBB is an open source Node.js based forum software. Due to a plain object with a prototype being used in socket.io message handling a specially crafted payload can be used to impersonate other users and takeover accounts. This vulnerability has been patched in version 2.6.1. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade may cherry-pick commit `48d143921753914da45926cca6370a92ed0c46b8` into their codebase to patch the exploit.

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in NodeBB up to 2.5.7. This affects an unknown part of the file /register/abort. The manipulation leads to cross-site request forgery. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. Upgrading to version 2.5.8 is able to address this issue. The name of the patch is 2f9d8c350e54543f608d3d4c8e1a49bbb6cdea38. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The associated identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-213555.

NodeBB Forum Software is powered by Node.js and supports either Redis, MongoDB, or a PostgreSQL database. Due to an unnecessarily strict conditional in the code handling the first step of the SSO process, the pre-existing logic that added (and later checked) a nonce was inadvertently rendered opt-in instead of opt-out. This re-exposed a vulnerability in that a specially crafted Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack could theoretically take over another user account during the single sign-on process. The issue has been fully patched in version 1.17.2.

NodeBB Forum Software is powered by Node.js and supports either Redis, MongoDB, or a PostgreSQL database. It utilizes web sockets for instant interactions and real-time notifications. `utils.generateUUID`, a helper function available in essentially all versions of NodeBB (as far back as v1.0.1 and potentially earlier) used a cryptographically insecure Pseudo-random number generator (`Math.random()`), which meant that a specially crafted script combined with multiple invocations of the password reset functionality could enable an attacker to correctly calculate the reset code for an account they do not have access to. This vulnerability impacts all installations of NodeBB. The vulnerability allows for an attacker to take over any account without the involvement of the victim, and as such, the remediation should be applied immediately (either via NodeBB upgrade or cherry-pick of the specific changeset. The vulnerability has been patched in version 2.x and 1.19.x. There is no known workaround, but the patch sets listed above will fully patch the vulnerability.

Nodebb is an open source Node.js based forum software. In affected versions incorrect logic present in the token verification step unintentionally allowed master token access to the API. The vulnerability has been patch as of v1.18.5. Users are advised to upgrade as soon as possible.

In nodebb-plugin-blog-comments before version 0.7.0, a logged in user is vulnerable to an XSS attack which could allow a third party to post on their behalf on the forum. This is due to lack of CSRF validation.

NodeBB before version 1.14.3 has a bug introduced in version 1.12.2 in the validation logic that makes it possible to change the password of any user on a running NodeBB forum by sending a specially crafted socket.io call to the server. This could lead to a privilege escalation event due via an account takeover. As a workaround you may cherry-pick the following commit from the project's repository to your running instance of NodeBB: 16cee1b03ba3eee177834a1fdac4aa8a12b39d2a. This is fixed in version 1.14.3.