Restricted-topic activity disclosure via unfiltered tag counts
Published Mar 17, 2023 · Updated Feb 25, 2025
Information disclosure in Discourse stable before 3.0.1 and beta/tests-passed before 3.1.0.beta2 allows remote attackers to infer hidden topic creation. Tag#topic_count includes every regular topic without filtering read-restricted categories, and public tag views expose that aggregate. Exploitation requires a globally visible tag on a hidden topic and repeated polling; it reveals presence and timing, not topic content.
Summary
What happened
Information disclosure in Discourse stable before 3.0.1 and beta/tests-passed before 3.1.0.beta2 allows remote attackers to infer hidden topic creation. Tag#topic_count includes every regular topic without filtering read-restricted categories, and public tag views expose that aggregate. Exploitation requires a globally visible tag on a hidden topic and repeated polling; it reveals presence and timing, not topic content.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-23622
- Published
- Mar 17, 2023
- Updated
- Feb 25, 2025
- Vendor
- Discourse
- Product
- Discourse
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 17, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 25, 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=beta < 3.1.0.beta2
- Affected versionversion=stable < 3.0.1
- Affected versionversion=tests-passed < 3.1.0.beta2
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
No sourced classifications are available.
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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