CVE-2023-22740Network attack vector

Service interruption via unbounded chat drafts

Published Jan 27, 2023 · Updated Mar 10, 2025

Resource exhaustion in Discourse chat before 3.1.0.beta1 allows remote authenticated users to interrupt service with abusive drafts. ChatDraft accepted draft data without length validation, and the current-user serializer loaded every stored chat draft without a count limit. An account with chat access can store oversized or numerous drafts, consuming server resources when the drafts are saved and later loaded.

CVSS severity3.5
Low
EPSS probability0.68%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Resource exhaustion in Discourse chat before 3.1.0.beta1 allows remote authenticated users to interrupt service with abusive drafts. ChatDraft accepted draft data without length validation, and the current-user serializer loaded every stored chat draft without a count limit. An account with chat access can store oversized or numerous drafts, consuming server resources when the drafts are saved and later loaded.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-22740
Published
Jan 27, 2023
Updated
Mar 10, 2025
Vendor
Discourse
Product
Discourse
Classifications
CWE-770, T1499.003
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 27, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 10, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=beta < 3.1.0.beta1; tests-passed < 3.1.0.beta1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Discourse · Discourseversion=beta < 3.1.0.beta1; tests-passed < 3.1.0.beta1

Published CVSS scores

3.5GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
4.3NVDCVSS: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 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-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

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Your stack

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