Discourse is an option source discussion platform. Prior to version 2.8.14 on the `stable` branch and version 2.9.0.beta15 on the `beta` and `tests-passed` branches, recipients of a group SMTP email could see the email addresses of all other users inside the group SMTP topic. Most of the time this is not an issue as they are likely already familiar with one another's email addresses. This issue is patched in versions 2.8.14 and 2.9.0.beta15. The fix is that someone sending emails out via group SMTP to non-staged users masks those emails with blind carbon copy (BCC). Staged users are ones that have likely only interacted with the group via email, and will likely include other people who were CC'd on the original email to the group. As a workaround, disable group SMTP for any groups that have it enabled.
This vulnerability carries a LOW severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 3.5, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required requiring only low-level 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 2023, 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.
2023-01-05T18:15:08.950
2024-11-21T07:30:14.850
Modified
CVSSv3.1: 3.5 (LOW)
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | discourse | discourse | < 2.8.14 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 2.9.0 | Yes |
| Application | discourse | discourse | 3.0.0 | 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.