Discourse
CVE-2021-39161
MEDIUM
Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionNVD
Discourse is an open source platform for community discussion. In affected versions category names can be used for Cross-site scripting(XSS) attacks. This is mitigated by Discourse's default Content Security Policy and this vulnerability only affects sites which have modified or disabled or changed Discourse's default Content Security Policy have allowed for moderators to modify categories. This issue is patched in the latest stable, beta and tests-passed versions of Discourse. Users are advised to ensure that the Content Security Policy is enabled, and has not been modified in a way which would make it more vulnerable to XSS attacks.
AnalysisAI
Discourse is an open source platform for community discussion. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Technical ContextAI
This vulnerability is classified as Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79), which allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. Discourse is an open source platform for community discussion. In affected versions category names can be used for Cross-site scripting(XSS) attacks. This is mitigated by Discourse's default Content Security Policy and this vulnerability only affects sites which have modified or disabled or changed Discourse's default Content Security Policy have allowed for moderators to modify categories. This issue is patched in the latest stable, beta and tests-passed versions of Discourse. Users are advised to ensure that the Content Security Policy is enabled, and has not been modified in a way which would make it more vulnerable to XSS attacks. Affected products include: Discourse.
RemediationAI
No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Sanitize all user input, use Content-Security-Policy headers, encode output contextually (HTML, JS, URL). Use frameworks with built-in XSS protection.
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Same weakness CWE-79 – Cross-site Scripting (XSS)
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today