Stored XSS via unsanitized category description updates
Published Mar 31, 2026 · Updated Mar 31, 2026
Stored XSS in affected Discourse 2026 release trains allows remote authenticated users to run script in category-page viewers' browsers. The category update API stores description input without sanitizing script tags, unlike the create path, and renders the value as category content. An attacker needs category-editing privileges, and exploitation requires another user to view the malicious description, enabling browser-context data access or modification without interrupting the service.
Summary
What happened
Stored XSS in affected Discourse 2026 release trains allows remote authenticated users to run script in category-page viewers' browsers. The category update API stores description input without sanitizing script tags, unlike the create path, and renders the value as category content. An attacker needs category-editing privileges, and exploitation requires another user to view the malicious description, enabling browser-context data access or modification without interrupting the service.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-32273
- Published
- Mar 31, 2026
- Updated
- Mar 31, 2026
- Vendor
- Discourse
- Product
- Discourse
- Classifications
- CWE-79, CWE-80, T1189
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 31, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 31, 2026Record 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=>= 2026.1.0-latest, < 2026.1.3
- Affected versionversion=>= 2026.2.0-latest, < 2026.2.2
- Affected versionversion=>= 2026.3.0-latest, < 2026.3.0
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
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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