CVE-2024-45051Network attack vector

Unauthorized private access via encoded email validation

Published Oct 7, 2024 · Updated Oct 8, 2024

Improper authentication in Discourse stable before 3.3.2 and beta before 3.4.0.beta2 allows remote attackers to access private forums. Domain-based email validation accepts a crafted encoded address as satisfying a restriction and consequently admits an unauthorized account. The code-level parsing error is undisclosed; exploitation requires configured domain restrictions and exposes private sites, categories, or groups.

CVSS severity8.2
High
EPSS probability0.37%
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

Improper authentication in Discourse stable before 3.3.2 and beta before 3.4.0.beta2 allows remote attackers to access private forums. Domain-based email validation accepts a crafted encoded address as satisfying a restriction and consequently admits an unauthorized account. The code-level parsing error is undisclosed; exploitation requires configured domain restrictions and exposes private sites, categories, or groups.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-45051
Published
Oct 7, 2024
Updated
Oct 8, 2024
Vendor
Discourse
Product
Discourse
Classifications
CWE-287, T1190
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 7, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 8, 2024Record 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=beta <3.4.0.beta2
  2. Affected versionversion=beta: < 3.4.0.beta2
  3. Affected versionversion=stable <3.3.2
  4. Affected versionversion=stable: < 3.3.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Discourse · Discourseversion=beta <3.4.0.beta2; version=beta: < 3.4.0.beta2; version=stable <3.3.2; version=stable: < 3.3.2

Published CVSS scores

8.2GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N

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
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-287Improper Authentication
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application

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