CVE-2020-26257
6.5 · MEDIUMOverview
CVE-2020-26257 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting matrix synapse. It was published on December 9, 2020 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 (MEDIUM).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5, rated MEDIUM. It can be exploited remotely over the network. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
Technical Description
Matrix is an ecosystem for open federated Instant Messaging and VoIP. Synapse is a reference "homeserver" implementation of Matrix. A malicious or poorly-implemented homeserver can inject malformed events into a room by specifying a different room id in the path of a `/send_join`, `/send_leave`, `/invite` or `/exchange_third_party_invite` request. This can lead to a denial of service in which future events will not be correctly sent to other servers over federation. This affects any server which accepts federation requests from untrusted servers. The Matrix Synapse reference implementation before version 1.23.1 the implementation is vulnerable to this injection attack. Issue is fixed in version 1.23.1. As a workaround homeserver administrators could limit access to the federation API to trusted servers (for example via `federation_domain_whitelist`).
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from matrix. Update synapse to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| matrix | synapse | >= 0, < 1.23.1 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2020-26257?
CVE-2020-26257 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting matrix synapse. It was published on December 9, 2020 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2020-26257?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5, rated MEDIUM. It can be exploited remotely over the network. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2020-26257?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from matrix. Update synapse to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2020-26257?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2020-26257 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
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