Improper access control in Discourse - CVE-2022-31184
Published: July 27, 2022 / Updated: July 1, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU136065
CSH Severity: Medium
CVSS v4: 6.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2022-31184
CWE-ID: CWE-284
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to improper access control in the update_activate_email route when handling email activation requests. A remote attacker can send repeated crafted requests to bypass the existing rate limit and cause a denial of service.
User interaction is required to trigger the spam signup emails.
Affected software
Discourse
How to mitigate CVE-2022-31184
Install security update from vendor's website.
Discourse - addressed in versions 2.8.7, 2.9.0 beta8