CVE-2026-30888
Privilege Escalation in Discourse via Unauthorized Policy Document Edits
Publication date: 2026-03-20
Last updated on: 2026-03-24
Assigner: GitHub, Inc.
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
| Probability: | |
| Percentile: |
Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| discourse | discourse | From 2026.1.0 (inc) to 2026.1.2 (exc) |
| discourse | discourse | From 2026.2.0 (inc) to 2026.2.1 (exc) |
| discourse | discourse | 2026.3.0 |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-269 | The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
CVE-2026-30888 is a low-severity vulnerability in the Discourse open-source discussion platform affecting versions prior to 2026.3.0-latest.1, 2026.2.1, and 2026.1.2.
The vulnerability allows a moderator to escalate their privileges by exploiting an arbitrary post_id parameter through the suspend/silence endpoint.
This flaw enables a moderator to edit site policy documents such as the Terms of Service, guidelines, and privacy policy, which they are explicitly prohibited from modifying under normal circumstances.
The issue has been patched in the specified versions, and the recommended mitigation is to upgrade to one of these patched versions.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
[{'type': 'paragraph', 'content': 'This vulnerability can impact you by allowing a moderator to modify critical site policy documents such as the Terms of Service, guidelines, and privacy policy without proper authorization.'}, {'type': 'paragraph', 'content': 'Unauthorized changes to these documents could lead to misinformation, misrepresentation of site policies, or potential legal and trust issues with users.'}, {'type': 'paragraph', 'content': "Since the vulnerability involves privilege escalation, it undermines the intended access controls and could affect the integrity of the platform's governance."}] [1]
How does this vulnerability affect compliance with common standards and regulations (like GDPR, HIPAA)?:
I don't know
How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?
There are no specific detection commands or methods provided to identify this vulnerability on your network or system.
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
The recommended immediate step to mitigate this vulnerability is to upgrade Discourse to one of the patched versions: 2026.1.2, 2026.2.1, or 2026.3.0-latest.1.
No known workarounds are available, so applying the patch by upgrading is the only effective mitigation.