Resource exhaustion in Discourse

CVE-2023-38706

Discourse is an open-source discussion platform. Prior to version 3.1.1 of the `stable` branch and version 3.2.0.beta1 of the `beta` and `tests-passed` branches, a malicious user can create an unlimited number of drafts with very long draft keys which may end up exhausting the resources on the server. The issue is patched in version 3.1.1 of the `stable` branch and version 3.2.0.beta1 of the `beta` and `tests-passed` branches. There are no known workarounds.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 6.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.008 (54.1th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 54th percentile — 54.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2023-38706: held from 0.006 to 0.008.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.006 · newest: 0.008 · change: +0.001

Affected products

  • Discourse — versions beta < 3.2.0.beta1, 3.1.0, tests-passed < 3.2.0.beta1

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-38706?
CVE-2023-38706 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Discourse, classified under Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling. CVSS score: 6.5/10. Published 2023-09-15.
How severe is CVE-2023-38706?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.5 out of 10.