Pixelfed's SearchController (behind the auth middleware) accepts a URL via its remote-search parameters and fetches it server-side through ActivityPubFetchService, whose validateUrl only blocks the literal hosts 127.0.0.1, localhost, and ::1 and requires https, without checking the resolved IP against private, internal, or link-local ranges (e.g. 169.254.169.254).
Attack Parameters
Attack Vector
Network
Can be exploited remotely
Attack Complexity
Low
Easy to exploit
Privileges Required
Low
Basic privileges needed
User Interaction
None
No user interaction needed
Impact Assessment
Confidentiality
Low
Partial data leak
Integrity
None
No data modification
Availability
None
No disruption
CVSS Vector v3.1
Weakness Type (CWE)
Vulnerable Products
pixelfed:pixelfed