Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Discourse groups can be configured with varying visibility levels for the group as well as the group members. By default, a newly created group has its visibility set to public and the group's members visibility set to public as well. However, a group's visibility and the group's members visibility can be configured such that it is restricted to logged on users, members of the group or staff users. A vulnerability has been discovered in versions prior to 2.7.13 and 2.8.0.beta11 where the group advanced search option does not respect the group's visibility and members visibility level. As such, a group with restricted visibility or members visibility can be revealed through search with the right search option. This issue is patched in `stable` version 2.7.13, `beta` version 2.8.0.beta11, and `tests-passed` version 2.8.0.beta11 versions of Discourse. There are no workarounds aside from upgrading.
This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 4.3, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts limited data confidentiality, for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from discourse organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2022, 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.
2022-01-14T17:15:13.153
2024-11-21T06:45:12.663
Modified
CVSSv3.1: 4.3 (MEDIUM)
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
10.0
2.9
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | discourse | discourse | ≤ 2.7.12 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.8.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.8.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.8.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.8.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.8.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.8.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.8.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.8.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.8.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.8.0 | Yes |
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 discourse'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.