CVE-2026-42553
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 · uneditedCinny is a Matrix client. Prior to 4.10.3, A remote authenticated attacker who shares a room with a victim and has permissions to create room emotes (for example in a DM) can cause the victim's client to send their Matrix access token to an attacker-controlled server. This occurs when the victim opens the emoji or sticker picker for the room containing a malicious emote pack. This is caused by an incorrect fallback in EmojiBoard that uses untrusted pack.meta.avatar (user-controlled) without converting/validating it as an MXC URL, allowing arbitrary HTTP(S) URLs to be used. Also, the service worker attaching the user's Authorization bearer token to all outbound GET requests whose URL contains /_matrix/client/v1/media/download or /_matrix/client/v1/media/thumbnail without verifying the request host matches the configured homeserver origin. An attacker-controlled URL containing those path fragments and permissive CORS will receive the victim's Authorization header (access token). This vulnerability is fixed in 4.10.3.
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 confidenceIn Cinny Matrix client prior to 4.10.3, the EmojiBoard component uses untrusted pack.meta.avatar data from emote packs without validating it as an MXC URL, allowing arbitrary HTTP(S) URLs. Additionally, the service worker blindly attaches the user's Matrix access token to all GET requests containing /_matrix/client/v1/media/download or /_matrix/client/v1/media/thumbnail path fragments without verifying the target host matches the configured homeserver, enabling token theft via attacker-controlled URLs.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Low
- Authentication
- X
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- X
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine Cinny versionLocate the Cinny application and check its version number in the application metadata, about page, or package.json fileAffected if Version is prior to 4.10.3 (versions 4.x less than 4.10.3, or any version below 4.x)
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Check for loaded emote packsInspect the Cinny client storage (localStorage/sessionStorage or IndexedDB) for emote pack data entries, particularly examining pack.meta.avatar fieldsAffected if Emote packs with custom pack.meta.avatar URLs are loaded and the avatar field contains non-mxc:// URLs (arbitrary HTTP/HTTPS URLs)
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Verify MXC URL format in emote dataIf emote packs exist, examine stored avatar URLs - legitimate Matrix content URLs use mxc:// format (e.g., mxc://servername/mediaid)Affected if Any pack.meta.avatar value uses http:// or https:// instead of mxc:// protocol
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Check service worker behaviorReview network requests made by the Cinny client when loading media via /_matrix/client/v1/media/download or /_matrix/client/v1/media/thumbnail endpointsAffected if The Matrix access token is being attached to requests destined for servers other than the configured homeserver
User is affected if running Cinny version below 4.10.3 AND either uses custom emote packs with arbitrary avatar URLs or has media requests that leak tokens to non-homeserver domains
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedUpgrade to Cinny version 4.10.3 or later. There is no practical workaround; client-side fixes are required to properly validate MXC URLs and restrict token attachment to legitimate homeserver origins only.
4.10.3
- Check the currently installed Cinny version (typically found in the application settings or package.json)
- Upgrade Cinny to version 4.10.3 or later by using your package manager (e.g., npm install [email protected], yarn add [email protected], or pip install for server deployments)
- If using a hosted/service instance, contact the hosting provider to ensure they have updated to version 4.10.3 or later
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the Cinny version in the application settings after update
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-42553 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-42553 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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