CVE-2023-38487

/// Technical description

HedgeDoc is software for creating real-time collaborative markdown notes. Prior to version 1.9.9, the API of HedgeDoc 1 can be used to create notes with an alias matching the ID of existing notes. The affected existing note can then not be accessed anymore and is effectively hidden by the new one.

When the freeURL feature is enabled (by setting the `allowFreeURL` config option or the `CMD_ALLOW_FREEURL` environment variable to `true`), any user with the appropriate permissions can create a note by making a POST request to the `/new/<ALIAS>` API endpoint. The `<ALIAS>` parameter can be set to the ID of an existing note. HedgeDoc did not verify whether the provided `<ALIAS>` value corresponds to a valid ID of an existing note and always allowed creation of the new note. When a visitor tried to access the existing note, HedgeDoc will first search for a note with a matching alias before it searches using the ID, therefore only the new note can be accessed.

Depending on the permission set

/// Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. 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.

/// References