Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-46241 is a critical-severity Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) vulnerability in Discourse Microsoft Authentication. Its CVSS base score is 9.0 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 44% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-50476
Vulnerability Data
`discourse-microsoft-auth` is a plugin that enables authentication via Microsoft. On sites with the `discourse-microsoft-auth` plugin enabled, an attack can potentially take control of a victim's Discourse account. Sites that have configured their application's account type to any options other than…
more
`Accounts in this organizational directory only (O365 only - Single tenant)` are vulnerable. This vulnerability has been patched in commit c40665f44509724b64938c85def9fb2e79f62ec8 of `discourse-microsoft-auth`. A `microsoft_auth:revoke` rake task has also been added which will deactivate and log out all users that have connected their accounts to Microsoft. User API keys as well as API keys created by those users will also be revoked. The rake task will also remove the connection records to Microsoft for those users. This will allow affected users to re-verify their account emails as well as reconnect their Discourse account to Microsoft for authentication. As a workaround, disable the `discourse-microsoft-auth` plugin by setting the `microsoft_auth_enabled` site setting to `false`. Run the `microsoft_auth:log_out_users` rake task to log out all users with associated Microsoft accounts.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
AC-3 directly requires correct enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally preventing incorrect checks.
AC-24 ensures access-control decisions are made and applied consistently, reducing the chance of an incorrect authorization result.
A reference monitor that is always invoked and tamper-proof forces every authorization decision through a verified, correct path.
Least-privilege assignments shrink the set of authorizations that must be checked correctly, limiting exposure to flawed checks.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Requiring consistency between access rights and classification plus formal approval steps ensures that the authorization logic correctly distinguishes between entities that should and should not be granted access.
A.5.18's provisioning, revocation, review and adjustment of access rights (incl. before role changes/termination, with segregation and owner approval) directly stops incorrect authorization decisions from being exploitable in the vast majority of cases; the bounded remainder is incorrectness inside the authorization logic itself (e.g. flawed conditional or missing check) rather than rights that were wrongly granted.
A.8.3 directly mandates restricting access to information per policies via configuration, identity/group controls, isolation, and dynamic techniques that enforce correct authorization decisions, addressing most but not all slices of CWE-863 (e.g., remainder in non-access-decision authorization errors like timing or environmental factors).
Hardening callouts derived
DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.
- No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-863, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.