Zulip is an open-source team chat application. Starting in version 10.0 and prior to version 10.3, the "Who can create public channels" access control mechanism can be circumvented by creating a private or web-public channel, and then changing the channel privacy to public. A similar technique works for creating private channels without permission, though such a process requires either the API or modifying the HTML, as we do mark the "private" radio button as disabled in such cases. Version 10.3 contains a patch.
This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.3, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts limited integrity, for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from zulip organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2025, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2025-05-16T00:15:18.840
2025-08-27T02:26:59.770
Analyzed
CVSSv3.1: 5.3 (MEDIUM)
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For zulip's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.