Profile-loading denial of service via oversized fields
Published Sep 29, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025
Improper input validation in Discourse 2.8.8 and earlier and beta before 2.9.0.beta10 allows remote authenticated users to disrupt profile loading. The UserProfile model and database columns accepted unbounded location and website strings instead of enforcing the intended 3,000-character maximum. Any account able to edit its profile can store oversized values, causing availability problems when other users load that profile.
Summary
What happened
Improper input validation in Discourse 2.8.8 and earlier and beta before 2.9.0.beta10 allows remote authenticated users to disrupt profile loading. The UserProfile model and database columns accepted unbounded location and website strings instead of enforcing the intended 3,000-character maximum. Any account able to edit its profile can store oversized values, causing availability problems when other users load that profile.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-39226
- Published
- Sep 29, 2022
- Updated
- Apr 23, 2025
- Vendor
- Discourse
- Product
- Discourse
- Classifications
- CWE-20, CWE-770, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 29, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 23, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=< 2.8.9
- Affected versionversion=>= 2.9.0.beta0, < 2.9.0.beta10
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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