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Rocket.chatApplication

CVE-2023-28325

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.0.0 or later.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
An improper authorization vulnerability exists in Rocket.Chat <6.0 that could allow a hacker to manipulate the rid parameter and change the updateMessage method that only checks whether the user is allowed to edit message in the target room.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Improper authorization vulnerability in Rocket.Chat's updateMessage method where the rid (room ID) parameter can be manipulated to bypass authorization checks, allowing authenticated users to edit messages in rooms they should not have access to.

MitigationUpgrade Rocket.Chat to version 6.0 or later which contains proper authorization validation for the updateMessage method.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Rocket.chatApplication
Affected:< 6.0.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Rocket.Chat version
    Run 'rocketchatctl status' or check the package.json file in the Rocket.Chat installation directory, or query the API endpoint '/api/info'
    Affected if The version is lower than 6.0.0 (e.g., 5.x.x, 4.x.x, etc.)
  2. Verify the updateMessage API endpoint exists
    Check if the /api/v1/method.callAnon/updateMessage endpoint is accessible in your Rocket.Chat instance by reviewing API route configurations or checking network logs when using the message editing feature
    Affected if The updateMessage method is exposed via the API and responds to requests
  3. Inspect room access controls
    Review the room membership configuration and check if users can be added to rooms without proper group membership validation. Examine the rid parameter handling in the server-side updateMessage implementation if accessible
    Affected if Users can edit messages in rooms where they are not members or lack proper permissions
  4. Test cross-room message editing
    As an authenticated user with limited room access, attempt to edit a message in a room where you are not a member by intercepting a message edit request and modifying the 'rid' parameter to another room ID
    Affected if The edit succeeds despite the user not having membership in the target room

You are affected if Rocket.Chat version is below 6.0.0 AND the updateMessage API endpoint is accessible to authenticated users without proper room membership validation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.0.0 or later
Fixed in 6.0.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Rocket.Chat to version 6.0 or later which contains proper authorization validation for the updateMessage method.

Recommended fix High confidence

6.0.0 or later

  1. 1. Backup your Rocket.Chat database and configuration files before upgrading
  2. 2. Confirm your current Rocket.Chat version is below 6.0.0
  3. 3. Review Rocket.Chat 6.0.0 release notes for any migration requirements or breaking changes
  4. 4. Upgrade to Rocket.Chat version 6.0.0 or later following the official upgrade guide
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the authorization fix by testing that users cannot edit messages in rooms where they lack permission by manipulating the rid parameter

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Rocket.chat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-28325 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data