Hidden-tag disclosure via unauthorized exclusion filtering
Published Jan 27, 2023 · Updated Mar 10, 2025
Information disclosure in Discourse before 3.0.1 allows remote authenticated users to infer which topics carry a hidden tag. TopicQuery's default_results method applies the exclude_tag SQL subquery without first checking whether the requesting guardian can view that tag. The disclosure is reachable when hidden tags label topics in public categories, and comparing filtered topic lists reveals tag membership without exposing topic contents.
Summary
What happened
Information disclosure in Discourse before 3.0.1 allows remote authenticated users to infer which topics carry a hidden tag. TopicQuery's default_results method applies the exclude_tag SQL subquery without first checking whether the requesting guardian can view that tag. The disclosure is reachable when hidden tags label topics in public categories, and comparing filtered topic lists reveals tag membership without exposing topic contents.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-23624
- Published
- Jan 27, 2023
- Updated
- Mar 10, 2025
- Vendor
- Discourse
- Product
- Discourse
- Classifications
- CWE-200, T1213
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 27, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- 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.
- Affected versionversion=< 3.0.1
- Affected versionversion== 3.1.0.beta1
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
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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