Automated Message Deletion in Quest Bot

Executive Summary

The vulnerability in Quest Bot allows any guild member on a Discord server to use slash commands like /automod add, /automod remove, and /automod list without requiring moderator permissions or authorization checks.

Because of this, an attacker can add broad AutoMod rules, such as rules matching common text or single letters, which causes the bot to delete legitimate messages from other users.

This issue is due to missing authorization checks and affects versions prior to 1.0.1. It has been patched in version 1.0.1.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can allow normal guild members to disrupt communication within a Discord server by deleting legitimate messages from other users.

Attackers can weaken or bypass existing moderation by altering server-wide AutoMod rules, potentially causing confusion, loss of important information, or abuse of the moderation system.

Because the attack requires low complexity and no user interaction, it poses a high risk to server stability and trust.

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by checking if unprivileged guild members are able to invoke the slash commands /automod add, /automod remove, and /automod list without proper moderator permissions.

To detect exploitation or presence of this vulnerability, you can monitor Discord server logs or bot command usage logs for unusual or unauthorized use of these AutoMod commands by non-moderator users.

Since this is a Discord bot issue, detection commands would be specific to the bot's logging or Discord server audit logs rather than traditional network commands.

For example, you can review the bot's command invocation logs or Discord audit logs for entries where non-moderator users have executed /automod add or /automod remove commands.

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Mitigation Strategies

The immediate mitigation step is to upgrade the Quest Bot to version 1.0.1 or later, where this vulnerability has been patched.

Until the upgrade can be performed, restrict the use of /automod add, /automod remove, and /automod list commands to trusted moderators only by implementing manual permission checks or disabling these commands for regular guild members.

Additionally, monitor and remove any suspicious AutoMod rules that may have been added by unauthorized users to prevent disruption of server communication.

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Compliance Impact

The provided information does not specify any direct impact of this vulnerability on compliance with common standards and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.

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