CVE-2025-69218 Discourse moderators can access admin-only reports exposing private upload URLs
Moderators can access admin-only reports exposing private upload URLs, allowing unauthorized reading of sensitive user data and backups.
- 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-2025-69218?
CVE-2025-69218 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Discourse Discourse, published on 28 Jan 2026. 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. In versions prior to 3.5.4, 2025.11.2, 2025.12.1, and 2026.1.0, moderators can access the `top_uploads` admin report which should be restricted to admins only. This report displays direct URLs to all uploaded files on the site, including sensitive content such as user data exports, admin backups, and other private attachments that moderators should not have access to. This issue is patched in versions 3.5.4, 2025.11.2, 2025.12.1, and 2026.1.0. There is no workaround. Limit moderator privileges to trusted users until the patch is applied.
Weakness: CWE-863
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-69218?
1 open source package ship an affected version, including discourse. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
discourse Bitnami | All versions | 3.5.4, 2025.11.2, 2025.12.1, 2026.1.0 |
Products include Discourse Discourse.
How do I fix CVE-2025-69218?
Upgrade discourse to a fixed version for your release line: 3.5.4, 2025.11.2, 2025.12.1 or 2026.1.0.
Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.
Is CVE-2025-69218 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-69218 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-2025-69218, GHSA-79f9-j8h4-3w6w.