CVE-2022-46159Network attack vector

Resource exhaustion via unchecked unlisted topic creation

Published Dec 2, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025

Resource exhaustion in Discourse 2.8.13 and earlier and 2.9.0.beta0 through 2.9.0.beta14 allows remote authenticated users to consume site resources. TopicCreator accepts visible=false for a new topic without checking whether the Guardian permits that user to toggle topic visibility. Any authenticated account can repeatedly create hard-to-discover unlisted topics, consuming storage and processing capacity.

CVSS severity4.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.63%
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

Resource exhaustion in Discourse 2.8.13 and earlier and 2.9.0.beta0 through 2.9.0.beta14 allows remote authenticated users to consume site resources. TopicCreator accepts visible=false for a new topic without checking whether the Guardian permits that user to toggle topic visibility. Any authenticated account can repeatedly create hard-to-discover unlisted topics, consuming storage and processing capacity.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-46159
Published
Dec 2, 2022
Updated
Apr 23, 2025
Vendor
Discourse
Product
Discourse
Classifications
CWE-770, T1499.003
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 2, 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=<= 2.8.13
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 2.9.0.beta0, <= 2.9.0.beta14

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Discourse · Discourseversion=<= 2.8.13; version=>= 2.9.0.beta0, <= 2.9.0.beta14

Published CVSS scores

4.3GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
T1499.003Application Exhaustion Flood

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