dbcve.org
DiscourseApplication

CVE-2024-53266

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.3.3 / 3.4.0 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Discourse is an open source platform for community discussion. In affected versions with some combinations of plugins, and with CSP disabled, activity streams in the user's profile page may be vulnerable to XSS. This has been patched in the latest version of Discourse core. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade should ensure CSP is enabled.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

This is a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Discourse's activity streams displayed on user profile pages. The vulnerability is triggered when the Content Security Policy (CSP) is disabled and certain combinations of plugins are installed, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts into the profile activity streams.

MitigationUpgrade to the latest patched version of Discourse core, or if immediate upgrading is not feasible, enable Content Security Policy (CSP) as a compensating control.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
DiscourseApplication
Affected:< 3.3.3< 3.4.0= 3.4.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Discourse version
    Access the Discourse admin panel and navigate to /about or use the API endpoint /latest.json to retrieve the current Discourse version number
    Affected if The installed version is less than 3.3.3, or equal to 3.4.0, or less than 3.4.0 (any version from 3.3.0 through 3.4.0 inclusive)
  2. Verify Content Security Policy status
    Navigate to Discourse admin panel, go to Security settings, and locate the Content Security Policy configuration option to determine if it is enabled or disabled
    Affected if Content Security Policy (CSP) is disabled in the Discourse security settings
  3. Review installed plugins and theme components
    In the Discourse admin panel, navigate to the Plugins section and list all installed plugins and theme components
    Affected if Multiple plugins are installed in combination with CSP disabled (the exact vulnerable plugin combination is not specified in the CVE)
  4. Check user profile activity stream configuration
    Access a user profile page on the Discourse instance and examine the activity stream section for any custom or third-party components that render user-generated content
    Affected if Activity stream components from plugins are present and rendering content without CSP protection

A user is affected if their Discourse version falls within the vulnerable range (below 3.3.3 or 3.3.x through 3.4.0) AND Content Security Policy is disabled.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.3.3 / 3.4.0 or later
Fixed in 3.3.33.4.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to the latest patched version of Discourse core, or if immediate upgrading is not feasible, enable Content Security Policy (CSP) as a compensating control.

Recommended fix High confidence

Discourse 3.4.1 or later, or Discourse 3.3.3+ in the 3.3.x stable branch

  1. Upgrade Discourse to a version newer than 3.4.0 (e.g., 3.4.1 or later), or upgrade to 3.3.3 or later in the 3.3.x stable branch
  2. After upgrading, verify the patch is applied by checking the Discourse release notes or GitHub security advisories
  3. If immediate upgrade is not possible, enable Content Security Policy (CSP) in Discourse settings as a mitigation: go to Admin > Settings > Security > content_security_policy and enable it
  4. Ensure CSP is properly configured to disallow inline scripts and untrusted sources
Caveat Review Discourse release notes for any breaking changes between your current version and the target upgrade version before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Discourse Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-53266 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-53266 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data