CVE-2025-24972 Discourse may bypass user preference when adding users to chat groups

What is CVE-2025-24972?

CVE-2025-24972 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Discourse Discourse, published on 26 Mar 2025. 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 versions `3.3.4` on the `stable` branch and `3.4.0.beta5` on the `beta` branch, in specific circumstances, users could be added to group direct messages despite disabling direct messaging in their preferences. Versions `3.3.4` and `3.4.0.beta5` contain a patch for the issue. A workaround is available. If a user disables chat in their preferences then they cannot be added to new group chats.

Weakness: CWE-862

Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-24972?

1 open source package ship an affected version, including discourse. It affects 1 product.

Products include Discourse Discourse.

How do I fix CVE-2025-24972?

Upgrade discourse to 3.4.0 or later.

Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.

Is CVE-2025-24972 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-24972 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Discourse Discourse

• CVE-2021-41163 RCE via malicious SNS subscription payload Critical 10.0
• CVE-2022-36066 Discourse vulnerable to RCE via admins uploading maliciously zipped file Critical 9.1
• CVE-2022-39356 Discourse user account takeover via email and invite link High 8.9
• CVE-2023-22468 Discourse vulnerable to Cross-site Scripting in local oneboxes High 8.8
• CVE-2026-27934 Discourse leaks private topic title and post excerpt via user action API endpoint High 8.7

All Discourse Discourse vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as BIT-discourse-2025-24972, GHSA-4p63-qw6g-4mv2.