Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-27153

Access Control in Discourse ≤ 2025.12.2

Published
26 February 2026
Modified
02 March 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 1.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0016 5th percentile
Risk Priority 15 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-27153 is a low-severity Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) vulnerability in Discourse Discourse. Its CVSS base score is 1.3 (Low).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Information Repositories (T1213); ranked at the 5th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Prior to versions 2025.12.2, 2026.1.1, and 2026.2.0, moderators could export user Chat DMs via the CSV export endpoint by exploiting an overly permissive allowlist in `can_export_entity?`. The method allowed moderators to export any…

more

entity not explicitly blocked instead of restricting to an explicit allowlist. Versions 2025.12.2, 2026.1.1, and 2026.2.0 patch the issue. No known workarounds are available.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1213 Data from Information Repositories Collection
Adversaries may leverage information repositories to mine valuable information.
Why these techniques?

Authorization bypass in export endpoint enables unauthorized access to chat DM data stored in the platform repository.

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-24742Same product: Discourse Discourse
CVE-2025-68666Same product: Discourse Discourse
CVE-2025-68933Same product: Discourse Discourse
CVE-2023-32061Same product: Discourse Discourse
CVE-2026-33291Same product: Discourse Discourse
CVE-2025-69289Same product: Discourse Discourse
CVE-2026-45780Same product: Discourse Discourse
CVE-2025-69218Same product: Discourse Discourse
CVE-2026-59828Same product: Discourse Discourse
CVE-2026-33410Same product: Discourse Discourse

Affected Assets

discourse
discourse
2026.2.0 · ≤ 2025.12.2 · 2026.1.0 — 2026.1.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly enforces authorization decisions on the CSV export endpoint so that moderators cannot invoke can_export_entity? for DMs.

prevent

Restricts moderator privileges to only the minimum export actions explicitly required, eliminating the implicit allow-anything-not-blocked behavior.

prevent

Enforces information-flow rules that prevent DM content from being included in moderator-initiated CSV exports.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Defining, enforcing, and reviewing access authorizations and least privilege directly prevents incorrect authorization 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.

prevents

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.

prevents

Enforcing policy-driven approval and role-change reviews stops incorrect or stale authorization decisions from remaining in effect after job changes or terminations.

prevents

By tying access rights to identity, device, location and classification, the control reduces the likelihood that an authorization decision will be based on an incorrect or bypassed policy.

References