HotCRP: comment-author search exposes anonymous commenter identities
HotCRP from v2.101 before 3.3 lets an authenticated user with search access learn the author of an anonymous comment via the cmt: search term. Fixed in 3.3.
- Last modified
- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean? →
- published
- Whether CISA lists it in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: proof that attackers are using it.What do these mean? →
- Not listed in CISA KEV
- How many real-world setups can hit the bug, from the vendor's advisory and CISA data. It does not know your setup.What do these mean? →
- Specific setups only
- Fix
- Fixed in 3.3
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
Summary
HotCRP, a conference review management system, is affected, and the flaw lets a logged-in user work out who wrote an anonymous review comment. Because the comment-author search does not check whether the commenter's identity should be hidden, reviewer anonymity can be broken.
Summarized by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5. Verify details against the original sources.
Read the original description
HotCRP is conference review software. Starting with 2.101, the `cmt:` search term checks whether a comment is visible to the searching user but fails to check whether the commenter's identity should be visible. A `cmt:USER` search can therefore match a paper with a visible comment authored by USER even when the comment is supposed to be anonymous. An authenticated user with access to the search can infer the author of an anonymous comment, compromising reviewer anonymity. Comments that the user cannot see remain excluded from search results. The advisory prose identifies 3.3 as fixed, its affected-version metadata excludes 3.3, and the verified repository tag 3.3 already contains the identity-check fix; however, its patched-version metadata instead lists 3.3.1. This fixed-version source conflict remains unresolved.
Timeline
- CVE published
- First seen by cve.now
Affected versions
- kohler hotcrp
From 2.101 · fixed in 3.3
References 3
GitHub · kohler/hotcrp
Questions about CVE-2026-55493
What does this mean?
The cmt: search term in HotCRP can reveal who wrote an anonymous comment to a user with search access. This undermines reviewer anonymity.Source: github.com
Am I affected, and how do I check?
The advisory's affected-version metadata covers versions from 2.101 up to but not including 3.3, because the cmt: search term was introduced in 2.101. To check, compare the installed HotCRP version against that range.Source: github.com
What should I do about it?
Upgrade to HotCRP 3.3 or later, which contains the fix.Source: github.com
Is it being exploited?
It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.Source: cve.now feed data