---
id: CVE-2026-86178
title: >-
  Pixelfed through 0.12.9 fails to validate follower status in
  StoryComposeController react and comment endpoints, allowing authenticated
  users to access follower-only stories
summary: >-
  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 reacti…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.4
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N'
cwe:
  - CWE-862
vendor: pixelfed
product: pixelfed
affected:
  - pixelfed <= 0.12.9
published: '2026-09-05'
updated: '2026-09-23'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-23T17:17:45.200'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-86178'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/geo-chen/oss/blob/main/Pixelfed.md'
    label: disclosure@vulncheck.com
  - url: 'https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed'
    label: disclosure@vulncheck.com
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed/blob/v0.12.9/app/Http/Controllers/StoryComposeController.php#L487-L501
    label: disclosure@vulncheck.com
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed/blob/v0.12.9/app/Http/Controllers/StoryComposeController.php#L566-L580
    label: disclosure@vulncheck.com
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed/blob/v0.12.9/routes/web-api.php#L154-L155
    label: disclosure@vulncheck.com
  - url: >-
      https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/pixelfed-through-0.12.9-unauthorized-story-access-via-api
    label: disclosure@vulncheck.com
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00184
epssPercentile: 0.08264
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-09-08T17:20:50.838883Z'
ingestedAt: '2026-09-06T07:51:56.681Z'
---

## Overview

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.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.