Reference page — cumulative record through Saturday, October 3, 2026 UTC. Reference pages update as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record.

CVE-2026-86178

CVE-2026-86178MEDIUM

Pixelfed through 0.12.9 Unauthorized Story Access via API

  AV  AC  AT  PR  UI  VC  VI  VA   CVSS    EPSS   %ile   KEV
   N   L   N   L   N   L   L   N    5.3   .0032   22.7     —

AFFECTED
  Product   Versions     Fixed
  pixelfed  unspecified  —

TIMELINE
  Sep 5   Reserved by VulnCheck
  Sep 5   Published (CNA: VulnCheck)
  Sep 8   EXPLOIT PUBLISHED — CVE-2026-86178 (pixelfed). Public exploit reference added.
  Sep 24  EXPLOIT PUBLISHED — CVE-2026-86178 (pixelfed). Public exploit reference added.

CWE-862 · CNA: VulnCheck · CVSS v4.0 · 6 references · NVD status: Deferred

Description

Pixelfed through 0.12.9 fails to validate follower status in StoryComposeController react and comment endpoints, allowing authenticated users to access follower-only stories. Attackers can enumerate sequential story IDs and submit reactions or comments to retrieve story media URLs and author information without following the account.

Lifecycle

Complete event history — 4 events, chronological
Date	Event	Detail
September 5, 2026	Reserved	Reserved by VulnCheck
September 5, 2026	Published	Published (CNA: VulnCheck)
September 8, 2026	EXPLOIT PUBLISHED	EXPLOIT PUBLISHED — CVE-2026-86178 (pixelfed). Public exploit reference added.
September 24, 2026	EXPLOIT PUBLISHED	EXPLOIT PUBLISHED — CVE-2026-86178 (pixelfed). Public exploit reference added.

Affected

Affected products and packages — 1 row
Vendor	Product / Package	Ecosystem	Version introduced	Fixed
pixelfed	pixelfed	—	—	—

Weaknesses

CWE-862

References (6)

https://github.com/geo-chen/oss/blob/main/Pixelfed.md [third-party-advisory, exploit]
https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed [product]
https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed/blob/v0.12.9/app/Http/Controllers/StoryComposeController.php#L487-L501 [technical-description]
https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed/blob/v0.12.9/app/Http/Controllers/StoryComposeController.php#L566-L580 [technical-description]
https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed/blob/v0.12.9/routes/web-api.php#L154-L155 [technical-description]
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/pixelfed-through-0.12.9-unauthorized-story-access-via-api [third-party-advisory]

Authoritative record: CVE-2026-86178 at cve.org

Vendors: pixelfed

Weaknesses: CWE-862

About this page

This is a reference page, not a dated page of record. It assembles the complete lifecycle of CVE-2026-86178 from the CVE Program record, NVD enrichment, the CISA KEV catalog, EPSS, and OSV advisories. The box score's numbers (CVSS, EPSS, KEV status) are current as of Saturday, October 3, 2026 UTC and are re-derived as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record. The authoritative source for this identifier is cve.org.