CVE-2023-38498 Discourse vulnerable to DoS via defer queue
A malicious user can cause a denial of service in Discourse multisite installations by blocking the defer queue, requiring an upgrade to fix.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2023-38498?
CVE-2023-38498 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Discourse Discourse, published on 28 Jul 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Prior to version 3.0.6 of the `stable` branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the `beta` and `tests-passed` branches, a malicious user can prevent the defer queue from proceeding promptly on sites hosted in the same multisite installation. The issue is patched in version 3.0.6 of the `stable` branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the `beta` and `tests-passed` branches. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability. Users of multisite configurations should upgrade.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-38498?
1 open source package ship an affected version, including discourse. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
discourse Bitnami | All versions | 3.0.6 |
Products include Discourse Discourse.
How do I fix CVE-2023-38498?
Upgrade discourse to 3.0.6 or later.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2023-38498 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-38498 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Discourse Discourse
- CVE-2021-41163 RCE via malicious SNS subscription payload
- CVE-2022-36066 Discourse vulnerable to RCE via admins uploading maliciously zipped file
- CVE-2022-39356 Discourse user account takeover via email and invite link
- CVE-2023-22468 Discourse vulnerable to Cross-site Scripting in local oneboxes
- CVE-2026-27934 Discourse leaks private topic title and post excerpt via user action API endpoint
Sources
Also known as BIT-discourse-2023-38498, GHSA-wv29-rm3f-4g2j.