CVE-2022-41944 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting Discourse, an open-source discussion platform widely used for community forums and collaboration. The vulnerability arises in versions prior to 2.8.12 (stable) and beta or tests-passed versions prior to 2.9.0.beta13. Under certain conditions, users can view notifications related to topics that they no longer have permission to access. This results in the exposure of sensitive information contained in the topic titles to unauthorized users. The flaw is categorized under CWE-200, which involves the exposure of sensitive information to unauthorized actors. The issue is specifically related to improper access control in the notification system, where topic titles are leaked even after access rights have been revoked or changed. The vulnerability does not require any special privileges beyond normal user access, nor does it require user interaction beyond normal platform use. The vendor has addressed the issue in stable version 2.8.12 and beta version 2.9.0.beta13. No workarounds are available, and no known exploits have been reported in the wild. The impact is limited to information disclosure, specifically sensitive data in topic titles, which could include confidential project details, personal data, or other sensitive discussions. This exposure could facilitate further targeted attacks or social engineering if exploited by malicious actors.

For European organizations using Discourse as a community or collaboration platform, this vulnerability can lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information. This could include internal project names, confidential discussions, or personal data embedded in topic titles. Such information leakage can undermine confidentiality, potentially damaging organizational reputation, violating data protection regulations such as GDPR, and exposing organizations to compliance risks. While the vulnerability does not directly affect system integrity or availability, the exposure of sensitive information can be leveraged by attackers to conduct phishing, social engineering, or targeted attacks. Organizations in sectors with strict confidentiality requirements, such as finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure, are particularly at risk. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the absence of workarounds means that vulnerable versions remain exposed until patched. Given the collaborative nature of Discourse, the scope of affected systems can be broad within organizations that rely on it for internal or external communication.

The primary mitigation is to upgrade Discourse installations to the patched versions: stable version 2.8.12 or later, or beta version 2.9.0.beta13 or later. Since no workarounds exist, patching is critical. Organizations should audit their Discourse instances to identify affected versions and prioritize updates accordingly. Additionally, review topic titles for sensitive information and consider redacting or renaming topics that contain confidential data, especially if they were created or modified during the vulnerable period. Implement strict access control policies and monitor user notifications for anomalies. For organizations with strict compliance requirements, consider temporarily restricting user access to Discourse until patches are applied. Finally, enhance user awareness about phishing and social engineering risks that could arise from leaked information.