CVE-2026-33074
Received Received - Intake
Privilege Escalation via Subscription Tier Bypass in Discourse

Publication date: 2026-03-31

Last updated on: 2026-04-09

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description
Discourse is an open-source discussion platform. From versions 2026.1.0-latest to before 2026.1.3, 2026.2.0-latest to before 2026.2.2, and 2026.3.0-latest to before 2026.3.0, a user may be able to purchase a lower tier subscription but grant themselves the benefits that comes along with a higher tier subscription. This issue has been patched in versions 2026.1.3, 2026.2.2, and 2026.3.0.
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Meta Information
Published
2026-03-31
Last Modified
2026-04-09
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2026-03-31
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-15
NVD
CVE-2026-33074
EUVD
EUVD-2026-17569
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 3 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
discourse discourse From 2026.1.0 (inc) to 2026.1.3 (exc)
discourse discourse From 2026.2.0 (inc) to 2026.2.2 (exc)
discourse discourse 2026.3.0
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-285 The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
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.
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Executive Summary

CVE-2026-33074 is a moderate severity vulnerability found in the discourse-subscriptions plugin of the Discourse software. It affects versions from 2026.1.0-latest to before 2026.1.3, 2026.2.0-latest to before 2026.2.2, and 2026.3.0-latest to before 2026.3.0.

The vulnerability allows a user who purchases a lower-tier subscription to escalate their privileges by granting themselves the benefits of a higher-tier subscription without authorization.

Exploitation requires network access, no privileges or user interaction, but has high attack complexity, meaning it is not trivial to exploit.

The issue has been patched in versions 2026.1.3, 2026.2.2, and 2026.3.0.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can impact you by allowing unauthorized privilege escalation within the Discourse subscription system.

Specifically, a user can gain benefits of a higher-tier subscription without paying for it, potentially leading to loss of revenue or unfair access to premium features.

The impact on the system's integrity is low, and there is no effect on confidentiality or availability.

Detection Guidance

There is no specific information provided about detection methods or commands to identify this vulnerability on your network or system.

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, it is recommended to disable the discourse-subscriptions plugin before upgrading to the patched versions.

  • Upgrade Discourse to version 2026.1.3, 2026.2.2, or 2026.3.0 where the issue is fixed.
  • Disable the discourse-subscriptions plugin temporarily if immediate upgrading is not possible.
Compliance Impact

The vulnerability allows unauthorized privilege escalation within subscription tiers but does not impact system confidentiality or availability.

Since there is no effect on confidentiality or availability of data, the vulnerability is unlikely to directly affect compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.

However, unauthorized privilege escalation could potentially lead to indirect compliance risks depending on how subscription benefits relate to access controls or sensitive data within an organization's use of the platform.

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