CVE-2024-47401 in Mattermost
Summary
by MITRE • 10/29/2024
Mattermost versions 9.10.x <= 9.10.2, 9.11.x <= 9.11.1 and 9.5.x <= 9.5.9 fail to prevent detailed error messages from being displayed in Playbooks which allows an attacker to generate a large response and cause an amplified GraphQL response which in turn could cause the application to crash by sending a specially crafted request to Playbooks.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/30/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-47401 affects Mattermost server versions within the 9.5.x, 9.10.x, and 9.11.x release series, specifically impacting versions up to 9.5.9, 9.10.2, and 9.11.1 respectively. This issue resides within the Playbooks component of the Mattermost platform, which is designed for workflow automation and process management. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and error handling mechanisms that fail to sanitize or limit the information returned in error responses. This flaw represents a classic case of insufficient error handling that can be exploited to generate excessive data responses.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows attackers to craft malicious GraphQL requests that trigger detailed server-side error messages containing extensive debugging information, stack traces, and internal system details. When processed through the Playbooks functionality, these requests can produce amplified responses that significantly exceed the size of the original request. The system's failure to implement proper rate limiting, response size restrictions, or error message sanitization creates an environment where attackers can leverage this behavior to consume excessive computational resources. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-209, which addresses the exposure of sensitive information through error messages, and CWE-400, which covers resource exhaustion conditions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios to potentially expose sensitive system information that could aid in further exploitation attempts. The amplified response behavior can overwhelm system resources including memory, CPU cycles, and network bandwidth, leading to application instability or complete service disruption. Attackers could potentially use this vulnerability to perform resource exhaustion attacks that degrade system performance or cause complete application crashes, particularly when multiple malicious requests are sent in succession. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of Mattermost's workflow automation capabilities, potentially disrupting business processes that rely on Playbooks for critical operations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-47401 should prioritize immediate version upgrades to patched releases of Mattermost, as recommended by the vendor's security advisories. Organizations should implement network-level rate limiting and request size restrictions to prevent excessive data responses from overwhelming system resources. Additionally, proper error handling configurations should be enforced to ensure that detailed technical error messages are not exposed to end users or external systems. Security teams should monitor application logs for unusual patterns of error response generation and implement automated alerting mechanisms to detect potential exploitation attempts. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under T1499.004, which covers network denial of service, and T1068, which addresses local privilege escalation through resource exhaustion techniques. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious GraphQL query patterns that attempt to trigger the vulnerable error handling behavior.