Vulnerability · Published Jan 28, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

CVE-2025-69218Discourse moderators can access admin-only reports exposing private upload URLs

High 7.1

In plain English

A high-severity incorrect authorization in discourse from discourse. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.3% (higher than 19% of all known vulnerabilities).

Severity (CVSS 4.0)7.1High

Exploit odds (30 days)0.3%top 81.5% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

Discourse is an open source discussion platform. In versions prior to 3.5.4, 2025.11.2, 2025.12.1, and 2026.1.0, moderators can access the `top_uploads` admin report which should be restricted to admins only. This report displays direct URLs to all uploaded files on the site, including sensitive content such as user data exports, admin backups, and other private attachments that moderators should not have access to. This issue is patched in versions 3.5.4, 2025.11.2, 2025.12.1, and 2026.1.0. There is no workaround. Limit moderator privileges to trusted users until the patch is applied.

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
discourse	discourse	< 3.5.4>= 2025.11.0-latest, < 2025.11.2>= 2025.12.0-latest, < 2025.12.1>= 2026.1.0-latest, < 2026.1.0

Weakness: CWE-863 · Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

References

https://github.com/discourse/discourse/security/advisories/GHSA-79f9-j8h4-3w6w x_refsource_CONFIRM