CVE-2023-38684
Discourse vulnerable to ossible DDoS due to unbounded limits in various controller actions
Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Prior to version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches, in multiple controller actions, Discourse accepts limit params but does not impose any upper bound on the values being accepted. Without an upper bound, the software may allow arbitrary users to generate DB queries which may end up exhausting the resources on the server. The issue is patched in version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Low
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Discourse vulnerable to ossible DDoS due to unbounded limits in various controller actions
Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Prior to version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches, in multiple controller actions, Discourse accepts limit params but does not impose any upper bound on the values being accepted. Without an upper bound, the software may allow arbitrary users to generate DB queries which may end up exhausting the resources on the server. The issue is patched in version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2023-38684- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-770
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-42472
Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Prior to version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches, in multiple controller actions, Discourse accepts limit params but does not impose any upper bound on the values being accepted. Without an upper bound, the software may allow arbitrary users to generate DB queries which may end up exhausting the resources on the server. The issue is patched in version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
EUVD-2023-42472- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-03
NVD
Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Prior to version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches, in multiple controller actions, Discourse accepts limit params but does not impose any upper bound on the values being accepted. Without an upper bound, the software may allow arbitrary users to generate DB queries which may end up exhausting the resources on the server. The issue is patched in version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2023-38684- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-770
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
Discourse vulnerable to ossible DDoS due to unbounded limits in various controller actions
Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Prior to version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches, in multiple controller actions, Discourse accepts limit params but does not impose any upper bound on the values being accepted. Without an upper bound, the software may allow arbitrary users to generate DB queries which may end up exhausting the resources on the server. The issue is patched in version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2023-38684- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-770
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVBIT-discourse-2023-38684 No score
Discourse vulnerable to ossible DDoS due to unbounded limits in various controller actions
Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Prior to version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches, in multiple controller actions, Discourse accepts limit params but does not impose any upper bound on the values being accepted. Without an upper bound, the software may allow arbitrary users to generate DB queries which may end up exhausting the resources on the server. The issue is patched in version 3.0.6 of the stable branch and version 3.1.0.beta7 of the beta and tests-passed branches. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
BIT-discourse-2023-38684- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
discourseBitnami |
before 3.0.6 | 3.0.6 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-38684 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.3) in Discourse, published July 28, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.64%, the 50th percentile. Fixed in discourse 3.0.6.