CVE-2022-21683
Comment reply notifications sent to incorrect users in wagtail
Wagtail is a Django based content management system focused on flexibility and user experience. When notifications for new replies in comment threads are sent, they are sent to all users who have replied or commented anywhere on the site, rather than only in the relevant threads. This means that a user could listen in to new comment replies on pages they have not have editing access to, as long as they have left a comment or reply somewhere on the site. A patched version has been released as Wagtail 2.15.2, which restores the intended behaviour - to send notifications for new replies to the participants in the active thread only (editing permissions are not considered). New comments can be disabled by setting WAGTAILADMIN_COMMENTS_ENABLED = False in the Django settings file.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Comment reply notifications sent to incorrect users in wagtail
Wagtail is a Django based content management system focused on flexibility and user experience. When notifications for new replies in comment threads are sent, they are sent to all users who have replied or commented anywhere on the site, rather than only in the relevant threads. This means that a user could listen in to new comment replies on pages they have not have editing access to, as long as they have left a comment or reply somewhere on the site. A patched version has been released as Wagtail 2.15.2, which restores the intended behaviour - to send notifications for new replies to the participants in the active thread only (editing permissions are not considered). New comments can be disabled by setting WAGTAILADMIN_COMMENTS_ENABLED = False in the Django settings file.
- Record
CVE-2022-21683- CVSS 3.1
- 3.5 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-0357
Wagtail is a Django based content management system focused on flexibility and user experience. When notifications for new replies in comment threads are sent, they are sent to all users who have replied or commented anywhere on the site, rather than only in the relevant threads. This means that a user could listen in to new comment replies on pages they have not have editing access to, as long as they have left a comment or reply somewhere on the site. A patched version has been released as Wagtail 2.15.2, which restores the intended behaviour - to send notifications for new replies to the participants in the active thread only (editing permissions are not considered). New comments can be disabled by setting WAGTAILADMIN_COMMENTS_ENABLED = False in the Django settings file.
- Record
EUVD-2022-0357- CVSS 3.1
- 3.5 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-xqxm-2rpm-3889
Comment reply notifications sent to incorrect users
Impact
When notifications for new replies in comment threads are sent, they are sent to all users who have replied or commented anywhere on the site, rather than only in the relevant threads. This means that a user could listen in to new comment replies on pages they have not had editing access to, as long as they have left a comment or reply somewhere on the site.
Patches
A patched version has been released as Wagtail 2.15.2 (for the current LTS), which restores the intended behaviour - to send notifications for new replies to the participants in the active thread only (editing permissions are not considered).
Workarounds
New comments can be disabled by setting WAGTAILADMIN_COMMENTS_ENABLED = False in the Django settings file.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Ihor Marhitych for identifying this issue.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Visit Wagtail's support channels
- Email us at [email protected] (if you wish to send encrypted email, the public key ID is
0x6ba1e1a86e0f8ce8)
- Record
GHSA-xqxm-2rpm-3889- CVSS 4.0
- 5.1 Medium
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 3.5 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
Wagtail is a Django based content management system focused on flexibility and user experience. When notifications for new replies in comment threads are sent, they are sent to all users who have replied or commented anywhere on the site, rather than only in the relevant threads. This means that a user could listen in to new comment replies on pages they have not have editing access to, as long as they have left a comment or reply somewhere on the site. A patched version has been released as Wagtail 2.15.2, which restores the intended behaviour - to send notifications for new replies to the participants in the active thread only (editing permissions are not considered). New comments can be disabled by setting WAGTAILADMIN_COMMENTS_ENABLED = False in the Django settings file.
- Record
CVE-2022-21683- CVSS 3.1
- 3.5 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - CVSS 3.1
- 4.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 4.0 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
Comment reply notifications sent to incorrect users in wagtail
Wagtail is a Django based content management system focused on flexibility and user experience. When notifications for new replies in comment threads are sent, they are sent to all users who have replied or commented anywhere on the site, rather than only in the relevant threads. This means that a user could listen in to new comment replies on pages they have not have editing access to, as long as they have left a comment or reply somewhere on the site. A patched version has been released as Wagtail 2.15.2, which restores the intended behaviour - to send notifications for new replies to the participants in the active thread only (editing permissions are not considered). New comments can be disabled by setting WAGTAILADMIN_COMMENTS_ENABLED = False in the Django settings file.
- Record
CVE-2022-21683- CVSS 3.1
- 3.5 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-xqxm-2rpm-3889
Comment reply notifications sent to incorrect users
Impact
When notifications for new replies in comment threads are sent, they are sent to all users who have replied or commented anywhere on the site, rather than only in the relevant threads. This means that a user could listen in to new comment replies on pages they have not had editing access to, as long as they have left a comment or reply somewhere on the site.
Patches
A patched version has been released as Wagtail 2.15.2 (for the current LTS), which restores the intended behaviour - to send notifications for new replies to the participants in the active thread only (editing permissions are not considered).
Workarounds
New comments can be disabled by setting WAGTAILADMIN_COMMENTS_ENABLED = False in the Django settings file.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Ihor Marhitych for identifying this issue.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Visit Wagtail's support channels
- Email us at [email protected] (if you wish to send encrypted email, the public key ID is
0x6ba1e1a86e0f8ce8)
- Record
GHSA-xqxm-2rpm-3889- CVSS 4.0
- 5.1 Medium
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 3.5 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2022-13 No score
Wagtail is a Django based content management system focused on flexibility and user experience. When notifications for new replies in comment threads are sent, they are sent to all users who have replied or commented anywhere on the site, rather than only in the relevant threads. This means that a user could listen in to new comment replies on pages they have not have editing access to, as long as they have left a comment or reply somewhere on the site. A patched version has been released as Wagtail 2.15.2, which restores the intended behaviour - to send notifications for new replies to the participants in the active thread only (editing permissions are not considered). New comments can be disabled by setting WAGTAILADMIN_COMMENTS_ENABLED = False in the Django settings file.
- Record
PYSEC-2022-13- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2022-21683 is a low vulnerability (CVSS 3.5) in Torchbox Wagtail, published January 18, 2022. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.97%, the 62nd percentile. Fixed in wagtail 2.15.2.
References
github.com/wagtail/wagtail/security/advisories/GHSA-xqxm-2rpm-3889
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-21683