CVE Intelligence
Critical Cross-site scripting

CVE-2026-53963 — Discourse: Stored-XSS in 2FA delete confirmation modal

Discourse is an open-source discussion platform. Prior to 2026.6.0, 2026.5.1, 2026.4.2, and 2026.1.5, a malicious second factor name on an attacker-controlled account was not escaped in the delete confirmation dialog, allowing stored cross-site scripting when an administrator impersonated that account. This issue is fixed in versions 2026.6.0, 2026.5.1, 2026.4.2, and 2026.1.5.

Published Jul 9, 2026 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: GitHub_M

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • Technical severity (critical)+10

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
—
No EPSS score.
Affects
Discourse
Discourse
CVSS base
9.0
Critical · 3 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented mitigation — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Discourse Discourse).
  2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  3. Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
  4. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (cross-site scripting), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Discourse Discourse ≥ 2026.1.0 and < 2026.1.5≥ 2026.4.0 and < 2026.4.2≥ 2026.5.0 and < 2026.5.1version 2026.6.0 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Discourse Discourse version >= 2026.1.0-latest, < 2026.1.5version >= 2026.4.0-latest, < 2026.4.2version >= 2026.5.0-latest, < 2026.5.1 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
9.0 CVSS 3.1 Critical 2.3 6.0 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.3 CVSS 3.1 High 2.1 5.2 security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.3 CVSS 3.1 High — — GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)
Scoring entities (NIST, CNA, ADP) score independently; each score is shown with its origin. For prioritization we use 9.0 (NVD (NIST)) as a conservative provisional reference — not a definitive official score.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-79 · Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Monitor CSP violation reports and script payloads in reflected parameters.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSapplication logs

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · discourse/discourse
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 15, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 9.0
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    Jul 9, 2026 · GitHub_M

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026

References

9 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Discourse
every CVE for this vendor
Cross-site scripting
same class
CWE-79
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-91159 Discourse: Stored oEmbed HTML injection via allowed iframe 1d
  • CVE-2026-91157 Discourse: Media uploads remain publicly accessible after category permissions are restricted 1d
  • CVE-2026-91156 Discourse: Chat MessageBus delivers read-restricted messages to unauthorized users 1d
  • CVE-2026-59828 Discourse: Hidden post revisions leak through adjacent visible diffs Jul 9, 2026
  • CVE-2026-55424 Discourse: Topic featured link susceptible to stored XSS Jul 9, 2026
  • CVE-2026-49256 Discourse: Hidden tag names leaked via category serializers Jul 9, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No FIRST EPSS score.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-53963 is "Discourse: Stored-XSS in 2FA delete confirmation modal", rated Critical. It affects Discourse (Discourse); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 9.0 describes technical severity. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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