HotCRP: comment-author search exposes anonymous commenter identities

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-55493
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-10-30 20:17:09 UTC
Updated2026-11-05 03:17:28 UTC
DescriptionHotCRP is conference review software. Starting with 2.101, the `cmt:` search term checks whether a comment is visible to the searching user but fails to check whether the commenter's identity should be visible. A `cmt:USER` search can therefore match a paper with a visible comment authored by USER even when the comment is supposed to be anonymous. An authenticated user with access to the search can infer the author of an anonymous comment, compromising reviewer anonymity. Comments that the user cannot see remain excluded from search results. The advisory prose identifies 3.3 as fixed, its affected-version metadata excludes 3.3, and the verified repository tag 3.3 already contains the identity-check fix; however, its patched-version metadata instead lists 3.3.1. This fixed-version source conflict remains unresolved.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 6.5 MEDIUM from [email protected]

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

EPSS: 0.003000000 probability, percentile 0.227850000 (date 2026-11-02)

Problem Types: CWE-863 | CWE-863 CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary6.5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
3.1CNADECLARED6.5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Kohler Hotcrp affected >= 2.101, < 3.3 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/kohler/hotcrp/security/advisories/GHSA-x3g6-4c5h-7p29 [email protected] github.com
github.com/kohler/hotcrp/releases/tag/v3.3 [email protected] github.com
github.com/kohler/hotcrp/commit/c4b008e756650db3063e8dd8300127936aae9ec1 [email protected] github.com
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