moquette: Improper Neutralization of Wildcards or Matching Symbols
CVE-2026-85724 is a critical-severity improper neutralization of wildcards or matching symbols vulnerability in moquette from Moquette-io, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.6 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. Affected moquette versions: < 0.18.1. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.32% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Check which version of moquette you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moquette-io | moquette | < 0.18.1 | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- NoneAvailability is not affected.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
Moquette is a lightweight Java MQTT broker. Prior to 0.18.1, when pattern-based ACL rules are configured, AuthorizationsCollector.canDoOperation substitutes client ID and username values directly into rules containing %c or %u and then treats the result as an MQTT topic filter. A client that uses + or # in either identity can broaden the substituted filter and gain cross-tenant read and write access. A # identity can also produce an invalid filter that triggers a NullPointerException in Topic.match and disrupts session processing. This issue is fixed in version 0.18.1.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Improper Neutralization of Wildcards or Matching Symbols
The product receives input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could be interpreted as wildcards or matching symbols when they are sent to a downstream component.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Developers should anticipate that wildcard or matching elements will be injected/removed/manipulated in the input vectors of their product. Use an appropriate combination of denylists and allowlists to ensure only valid, expected and appropriate input is processed by the system.
- While it is risky to use dynamically-generated query strings, code, or commands that mix control and data together, sometimes it may be unavoidable. Properly quote arguments and escape any special characters within those arguments. The most conservative approach is to escape or filter all characters that do not pass an extremely strict allowlist (such as everything that is not alphanumeric or white space). If some special characters are still needed, such as white space, wrap each argument in quotes after the escaping/filtering step. Be careful of argument injection (CWE-88).
- Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.
More Improper Neutralization of Wildcards or Matching Symbols vulnerabilities (CWE-155)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: poc, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Advisories
- github.com/moquette-io/moquette/security/advisories/GHSA-5f42-97gr-vfhqExploit, Mitigation
Patches and release notes
Other vulnerabilities in moquette
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
Recent Improper Neutralization of Wildcards or Matching Symbols vulnerabilities
- 8.1 High severity
- 8.7 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
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