Discourse discourse-policy Plugin <2026.3.0-latest.1: Privilege Escalation
CVE-2026-28282 Published on March 19, 2026
Discourse vulnerable to group membership addition permission bypass via discourse-policy plugin
Discourse is an open-source discussion platform. Versions prior to 2026.3.0-latest.1, 2026.2.1, and 2026.1.2 have a security flaw in the discourse-policy plugin which allowed a user with policy creation permission to gain membership access to any private/restricted groups. Once membership to a private/restricted group has been obtained, the user will be able to read private topics that only the group has access to. Versions 2026.3.0-latest.1, 2026.2.1, and 2026.1.2 contain a patch. As a workaround, review all policies for the use of `add-users-to-group` and temporarily remove the attribute from the policy. Alternatively, disable the discourse-policy plugin by disabling the `policy_enabled` site setting.
Weakness Type
What is an AuthZ Vulnerability?
The software performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check. This allows attackers to bypass intended access restrictions.
CVE-2026-28282 has been classified to as an AuthZ vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-28282
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Affected Versions
discourse:- Version >= 2026.1.0-latest, < 2026.1.2 is affected.
- Version >= 2026.2.0-latest, < 2026.2.1 is affected.
- Version = 2026.3.0-latest is affected.