CVE-2022-21683 Comment reply notifications sent to incorrect users in wagtail

Low 3.5 Published 18 Jan 2022 Updated 23 Apr 2025

Attackers can receive notifications for comment replies on pages they lack access to, leaking private content to unauthorized users.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: A user has to click or open something
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2022-21683?

CVE-2022-21683 is a low-severity vulnerability in wagtail, published on 18 Jan 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-200

Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-21683?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including wagtail. It affects 1 product.

Package	Affected	Fixed in
`wagtail` PyPI	From `2.13`	`2.15.2`
`wagtail` PyPI	From `2.13`	`2.15.2`
`wagtail` PyPI	From `2.13`	`2.15.2`

Products include Torchbox Wagtail.

How do I fix CVE-2022-21683?

Upgrade wagtail to 2.15.2 or later.

Is CVE-2022-21683 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-21683 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-xqxm-2rpm-3889, PYSEC-2022-13.