CVE-2024-23654 is a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability identified in the discourse-ai plugin, which is an AI integration component for the open-source Discourse discussion platform. This vulnerability affects versions of discourse-ai prior to the commit 94ba0dadc2cf38e8f81c3936974c167219878edd, which introduced a patch to mitigate the issue. SSRF vulnerabilities occur when an attacker can manipulate a server to make unintended requests to internal or external resources. In this case, the flaw allows an attacker with administrative privileges on a Discourse instance to initiate SSRF attacks by exploiting the discourse-ai plugin's interactions with various AI services. Because the vulnerability requires admin-level access to trigger, the attack surface is limited to trusted users with elevated permissions. However, once exploited, the attacker could potentially access internal network resources, bypass firewall restrictions, or interact with sensitive internal services that are not exposed externally. The vulnerability does not require user interaction beyond the attacker’s own actions, and no known exploits are currently reported in the wild. As a workaround, disabling the discourse-ai plugin prevents exploitation until the patch is applied. The patch itself is integrated in the commit referenced, which presumably includes input validation or request filtering to prevent SSRF vectors. This vulnerability is classified under CWE-918, which covers SSRF issues where the server is tricked into making unintended HTTP requests. Given the nature of the plugin and the requirement for admin privileges, the risk is moderate but significant in environments where discourse-ai is actively used and admins may be targeted or compromised.

For European organizations using Discourse with the discourse-ai plugin, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to the confidentiality and integrity of internal network resources. An attacker exploiting this SSRF could gain unauthorized access to internal services, potentially leading to data leakage or lateral movement within the network. This could impact organizations that use Discourse for internal communications, knowledge sharing, or customer engagement, especially if sensitive internal APIs or databases are accessible from the server hosting Discourse. The availability impact is lower unless the SSRF is leveraged to trigger denial-of-service conditions on internal services. Since exploitation requires admin privileges, the threat is more about privilege abuse or insider threats rather than external attackers without credentials. However, if an attacker compromises an admin account through phishing or other means, this vulnerability could be used to escalate access internally. Given the growing adoption of AI plugins and integrations, organizations relying on discourse-ai for AI-enhanced discussions or workflows should prioritize patching to avoid potential internal reconnaissance or data exfiltration attempts. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for future attacks.

1. Immediately update the discourse-ai plugin to the version including commit 94ba0dadc2cf38e8f81c3936974c167219878edd or later, which contains the patch for this SSRF vulnerability. 2. If updating is not immediately feasible, disable the discourse-ai plugin to prevent exploitation. 3. Restrict administrative access to the Discourse platform to trusted personnel only, enforcing strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) to reduce the risk of admin account compromise. 4. Implement network segmentation and firewall rules to limit the Discourse server’s ability to make outbound requests to internal services that are not necessary for its operation, thereby reducing the impact of potential SSRF exploitation. 5. Monitor logs for unusual outbound requests originating from the Discourse server, especially those targeting internal IP ranges or unexpected external endpoints. 6. Conduct regular security audits of Discourse instances and plugins to ensure timely application of patches and adherence to security best practices. 7. Educate administrators on the risks of SSRF and the importance of safeguarding admin credentials to prevent privilege abuse.