CVE-2022-21684

User can bypass approval when invited to Discourse

HIGH
8.8
CVSS Score
Published: January 13, 2022 at 09:05 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 04:26 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorDiscourse

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Severity
HIGH8.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.8%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Versions prior to 2.7.13 in `stable`, 2.8.0.beta11 in `beta`, and 2.8.0.beta11 in `tests-passed` allow some users to log in to a community before they should be able to do so. A user invited via email to a forum with `must_approve_users` enabled is going to be automatically logged in, bypassing the check that does not allow unapproved users to sign in. They will be able to do everything an approved user can do. If they logout, they cannot log back in. This issue is patched in the `stable` version 2.7.13, `beta` version 2.8.0.beta11, and `tests-passed` version 2.8.0.beta11. One may disable invites as a workaround. Administrators can increase `min_trust_level_to_allow_invite` to reduce the attack surface to more trusted users.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

Affected range stops below 2.7.13, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.8.0.beta11, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-287

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