RansomLook Missing Authorization Allows Disclosure of Private Group and Ransom Note Data

RansomLook does not consistently enforce authorization checks when accessing groups, markets, and ransom notes marked as private. An unauthenticated or otherwise unauthorized remote attacker can access information associated with private entities through several web views and API endpoints. The affected functionality can disclose private group or market names, ransom-note content, and metadata associated with private groups. The /compare functionality can also be queried directly with the name of a private entity, allowing an unauthorized user to retrieve information such as post counts, mirror totals, and uptime even when the entity is excluded from the normal user interface. The patch explicitly adds a privacy check before returning this information. Ransom-note views, search results, and API endpoints were similarly missing consistent filtering. The fix introduces normalized private-group identifiers and alias handling, then rejects or filters notes associated with private groups before returning them to unauthorized callers. An attacker can exploit the issue remotely without authentication or user interaction, resulting in disclosure of information that was explicitly intended to be restricted to authorized users.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.