Discourse: Secure uploads exposed by hotlinked image copying
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- Information disclosure
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · None · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-200.
Summary
Discourse is an open-source discussion platform. Prior to 2026.6.0, 2026.5.1, 2026.4.2, and 2026.1.5, secure uploads could be exposed by pull_hotlinked_images when an attacker knew the secured upload URL and the secure_uploads site setting was enabled. This issue is fixed in versions 2026.6.0, 2026.5.1, 2026.4.2, and 2026.1.5.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discourse | discourse | 2026.1.0-latest to before 2026.1.5; 2026.4.0-latest to before 2026.4.2; 2026.5.0-latest to before 2026.5.1 | 2026.1.5, 2026.4.2, 2026.5.1 | Patch available | CNA |
- discourse Vendordiscourse Affected 2026.1.0-latest to before 2026.1.5; 2026.4.0-latest to before 2026.4.2; 2026.5.0-latest to before 2026.5.1 Fixed in 2026.1.5, 2026.4.2, 2026.5.1 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA discourse (discourse) Fixed in 2026.1.5, 2026.4.2, 2026.5.1
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-45788
- 2026-10-25 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
References
Patch 4
- https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/5807c426880eadf248006e851604fc9284327ce5
- https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/8b4a959b251a856a9c911fb9f2ac34fbc31a7471
- https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/eff53af26367ae0dcb3a426954d233e8c7449f95
- https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/fa74e0dec7341a858ab83a1977fa52629bced1aa
More Discourse vulnerabilities
- TI-2021-19656 Denial of Service in discourse CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.8
- TI-2024-36150 Potential Backup file leaked via Nginx in Discourse CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2021-18002 RCE via malicious SNS subscription payload CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2026-24651 Discourse: Open redirect via `sso_destination_url` cookie in `enter` CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 5.1
- TI-2026-22278 Discourse leaks private topic title and post excerpt via user action API endpoint CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2023-24152 Unauthenticated access to new private chat messages in Discourse CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences