CVE-2022-31025Network attack vector

Account approval bypass via invite auto-approval

Published Jun 3, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025

Improper authorization in Discourse before 2.8.4 and 2.9.0.beta1 through 2.9.0.beta4 allows remote authenticated users to bypass staff approval. The SSO login and InviteRedeemer paths treated an invitation, particularly one issued by staff, as authorization to approve a pending account despite must_approve_users. Exploitation requires an invitation on an SSO-enabled site with user approval required, and the resulting account skips the staff review queue.

CVSS severity2.6
Low
EPSS probability0.96%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Improper authorization in Discourse before 2.8.4 and 2.9.0.beta1 through 2.9.0.beta4 allows remote authenticated users to bypass staff approval. The SSO login and InviteRedeemer paths treated an invitation, particularly one issued by staff, as authorization to approve a pending account despite must_approve_users. Exploitation requires an invitation on an SSO-enabled site with user approval required, and the resulting account skips the staff review queue.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-31025
Published
Jun 3, 2022
Updated
Apr 23, 2025
Vendor
Discourse
Product
Discourse
Classifications
CWE-285, T1136
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 3, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 23, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 2.8.4
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 2.9.0.beta1, <= 2.9.0.beta4

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Discourse · Discourseversion=< 2.8.4; version=>= 2.9.0.beta1, <= 2.9.0.beta4

Published CVSS scores

2.6GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
5.3NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
5.0NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-285Improper Authorization
T1136Create Account

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo