CVE-2026-31805: Discourse has a poll authorization bypass via post_id array parameter

Severity: high (CVSS 8.2 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-03-20 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-20

Description

Discourse is an open-source discussion platform. Prior to versions 2026.3.0-latest.1, 2026.2.1, and 2026.1.2, an authorization bypass in the poll plugin allowed authenticated users to vote on, remove votes from, or toggle the open/closed status of polls they did not have access to. By passing post_id as an array (e.g. post_id[]=&post_id[]=), the authorization check resolves to the accessible post while the poll lookup resolves to a different post's poll. This affects the vote, remove_vote, and toggle_status endpoints in DiscoursePoll::PollsController. Versions 2026.3.0-latest.1, 2026.2.1, and 2026.1.2 contain a patch.

Affected products

discourse: from 2026.1.0 before 2026.1.2; from 2026.2.0 before 2026.2.1; 2026.3.0 — fixed in 2026.1.2, 2026.2.1

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: discourse 2026.1.2, 2026.2.1. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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