Stored XSS via unescaped staff action values
Published Aug 10, 2026 · Updated Aug 10, 2026
Stored XSS in affected Discourse releases allows remote authenticated users to execute script in a staff user's browser through action-log values. The staff-action-log model passed previous_value and new_value to format with escaping disabled, treating stored content as trusted HTML. Exploitation requires low-privileged access and a staff member to view the affected log; script execution can read or modify data available to that staff session.
Summary
What happened
Stored XSS in affected Discourse releases allows remote authenticated users to execute script in a staff user's browser through action-log values. The staff-action-log model passed previous_value and new_value to format with escaping disabled, treating stored content as trusted HTML. Exploitation requires low-privileged access and a staff member to view the affected log; script execution can read or modify data available to that staff session.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-72725
- Published
- Aug 10, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 10, 2026
- Vendor
- Discourse
- Product
- Discourse
- Classifications
- CWE-79, T1059.007
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 10, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 10, 2026Record 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.
- Affected versionversion=< 2026.1.6
- Affected versionversion=>= 2026.5.0, < 2026.5.2
- Affected versionversion=>= 2026.6.0, < 2026.6.1
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
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