CVE-2022-21684 MEDIUM

CVE-2022-21684: User can bypass approval when invited to Discourse

Vendor Discourse
Product discourse
Weakness CWE-287 · Improper authentication
Published January 13, 2022
Last update April 23, 2025

CVSS base score

4.3/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required Low
User interaction None
Confidentiality Low
Integrity None

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

What the vulnerability does

01Description

Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Versions prior to 2.7.13 in `stable`, 2.8.0.beta11 in `beta`, and 2.8.0.beta11 in `tests-passed` allow some users to log in to a community before they should be able to do so. A user invited via email to a forum with `must_approve_users` enabled is going to be automatically logged in, bypassing the check that does not allow unapproved users to sign in. They will be able to do everything an approved user can do. If they logout, they cannot log back in. This issue is patched in the `stable` version 2.7.13, `beta` version 2.8.0.beta11, and `tests-passed` version 2.8.0.beta11. One may disable invites as a workaround. Administrators can increase `min_trust_level_to_allow_invite` to reduce the attack surface to more trusted users.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

January 13, 2022 CVE published
April 23, 2025 Record updated