What is CVE-2026-28218?

CVE-2026-28218 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Discourse, classified under Improper Access Control. CVSS score: 5.4/10. Published 2026-02-26.

How severe is CVE-2026-28218?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.4 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Discourse

CVE-2026-28218

Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Prior to versions 2025.12.2, 2026.1.1, and 2026.2.0, fail-open access control in Data Explorer plugin allows any authenticated user to execute SQL queries that have no explicit group assignments, including built-in system queries. Versions 2025.12.2, 2026.1.1, and 2026.2.0 patch the issue. As a workaround, either explicitly set group permissions on each Data Explorer query that doesn't have permissions, or disable discourse-data-explorer plugin.

EPSS: 0.002 (4.7th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.4 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N.

Affected products

Discourse — versions >= 2026.2.0-latest, < 2026.2.0, >= 2026.1.0-latest, < 2026.1.1, 2026.2.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-284 — Improper Access Control

References

security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_CONFIRM, Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-28218?: CVE-2026-28218 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Discourse, classified under Improper Access Control. CVSS score: 5.4/10. Published 2026-02-26.
How severe is CVE-2026-28218?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.4 out of 10.