CVE-2022-24850 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-200, which pertains to the exposure of sensitive information to unauthorized actors. This vulnerability affects Discourse, an open-source platform widely used for community discussions and forums. The issue arises from the way Discourse handles category group permissions. Specifically, the permissions settings for a category's groups—indicating whether a group has read or write access—are visible to any user who has access to that category. However, this information should be restricted and only accessible to users with management privileges over the category. Due to this flaw, normal users can view group permission configurations that are intended to be confidential. This exposure could potentially reveal organizational structures, access control policies, or sensitive group memberships that could be leveraged for further reconnaissance or social engineering attacks. The vulnerability affects Discourse versions prior to 2.8.3 and 2.9.0.beta4 and has been addressed in the latest stable, beta, and tests-passed releases. No known exploits have been reported in the wild, and no workarounds exist, making patching the sole effective remediation. The vulnerability does not require elevated privileges beyond normal user access to a category, and no user interaction beyond browsing the category is necessary to observe the exposed information. The impact is primarily on confidentiality, as unauthorized users gain access to sensitive permission data, but it does not directly affect system integrity or availability.

For European organizations utilizing Discourse as a platform for internal or external community engagement, this vulnerability could lead to unintended disclosure of sensitive access control information. Such exposure may facilitate targeted social engineering, privilege escalation attempts, or unauthorized mapping of organizational structures. While the vulnerability does not directly compromise data integrity or availability, the confidentiality breach could undermine trust in the platform and expose organizations to reputational damage or compliance risks, especially under GDPR where unauthorized disclosure of access control information might be considered a data protection concern. Organizations with sensitive or regulated discussions hosted on Discourse are particularly at risk. The impact is more pronounced in sectors where community forums are used for critical communications, such as government, healthcare, finance, or critical infrastructure sectors within Europe.

The primary and only effective mitigation is to upgrade Discourse installations to version 2.8.3 or later, or 2.9.0.beta4 or later, where the vulnerability has been patched. Since no workarounds exist, organizations should prioritize patch management for Discourse instances. Additionally, organizations should audit their Discourse user roles and permissions to ensure that only necessary users have access to sensitive categories. Implementing strict access controls at the network level, such as IP whitelisting or VPN requirements for accessing internal Discourse forums, can reduce exposure. Monitoring and logging access to sensitive categories can help detect unusual access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Finally, organizations should review their community management policies to limit the amount of sensitive information disclosed in group names or permissions that could be leveraged if exposed.