CVE-2023-40588Network attack vector

Authenticated service interruption via crafted credential names

Published Sep 15, 2023 · Updated Sep 24, 2024

Resource exhaustion in Discourse stable before 3.1.1 and beta or tests-passed before 3.2.0.beta1 allows remote authenticated users to interrupt service. A user-supplied name for an account's 2FA method or security key triggers the denial of service, but Discourse has not published the failing operation or resource. An ordinary authenticated account can plant the crafted name, after which other users lose service availability; no data access or modification is reported.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.62%
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 stable before 3.1.1 and beta or tests-passed before 3.2.0.beta1 allows remote authenticated users to interrupt service. A user-supplied name for an account's 2FA method or security key triggers the denial of service, but Discourse has not published the failing operation or resource. An ordinary authenticated account can plant the crafted name, after which other users lose service availability; no data access or modification is reported.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-40588
Published
Sep 15, 2023
Updated
Sep 24, 2024
Vendor
Discourse
Product
Discourse
Classifications
CWE-770, T1499
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 15, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 24, 2024Record 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 < 3.2.0.beta1
  2. Affected versionversion=stable < 3.1.1
  3. Affected versionversion=tests-passed < 3.2.0.beta1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Discourse · Discourseversion=beta < 3.2.0.beta1; version=stable < 3.1.1; version=tests-passed < 3.2.0.beta1

Published CVSS scores

6.5GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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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