Auth bypass in Discourse
CVE-2026-72722
Discourse is an open-source discussion platform. Prior to 2026.1.6, 2026.5.2, 2026.6.1, and 2026.7.0, TopicLink.extract_from, TopicLink.ensure_entry_for, and TopicLink.duplicate_lookup do not consistently enforce Guardian.can_see? checks when processing internal links. An authenticated user can submit links to restricted topics, private messages, or hidden posts and receive canonicalized slugs or titles in the composer_messages duplicate_lookup response even though the targets are not visible to that user. This issue is fixed in versions 2026.1.6, 2026.5.2, 2026.6.1, and 2026.7.0.
Vulnerability class: Broken Access Control
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 4.3 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.004 (35.7th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 36th percentile — 35.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.004 · change: +0.001
Affected products
- Discourse — versions < 2026.1.6, >= 2026.5.0-latest, < 2026.5.2, >= 2026.6.0-latest, < 2026.6.1
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/45abd925e46e8be40d2d047bced26628f26e4e31
- github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/7d7ce546ac86e24a6512b321ace69fc52fe37bf4
- github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/836a251d54a1004fb1c463a7d299b933b176191f
- github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/e54ba27eacee0f14f315e510e287e7ac2e4bdb1a
- github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/42091
- github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/42092
- github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/42093
- github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/42094
- github.com/discourse/discourse/security/advisories/GHSA-4fx9-5m29-83p4
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-72722?
- CVE-2026-72722 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Discourse, classified under Missing Authorization. CVSS score: 4.3/10. Published 2026-08-10.
- How severe is CVE-2026-72722?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.3 out of 10.