CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-46241 — `discourse-microsoft-auth` is a plugin that enables authentication via Microsoft

Critical CVSS 9

`discourse-microsoft-auth` is a plugin that enables authentication via Microsoft. On sites with the `discourse-microsoft-auth` plugin enabled, an attack can potentially take control of a victim's Discourse account. Sites that have configured their application's account type to any options other than `Accounts in this organizational directory only (O365 only - Single tenant)` are vulnerable. This vulnerability has been patched in commit c40665f44509724b64938c85def9fb2e79f62ec8 of `discourse-microsoft-auth`. A `microsoft_auth:revoke` rake task has also been added which will deactivate and log out all users that have connected their accounts to Microsoft. User API keys as well as API keys created by those users will also be revoked. The rake task will also remove the connection records to Microsoft for those users. This will allow affected users to re-verify their account emails as well as reconnect their Discourse account to Microsoft for authentication. As a workaround, disable the `discourse-microsoft-auth` plugin by setting the `microsoft_auth_enabled` site setting to `false`. Run the `microsoft_auth:log_out_users` rake task to log out all users with associated Microsoft accounts.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9 (3.1)
Published
2024-02-21
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
windows/system
Weaknesses
CWE-863

Affected products

  • discourse / microsoft_authentication

Matched remediation archetype

Authorization bypass, IDOR, and cross-tenant access

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map object and action authorization checks across API, UI, batch, import/export, and background-job paths.
  • Identify tenant, ownership, role, and policy boundaries for affected resources and administrative operations.
  • Use synthetic fixtures to compare intended access matrices without accessing another user's real data.

Remediate safely

  • Enforce server-side authorization at each resource access and state transition using the authenticated principal and trusted tenant context.
  • Scope data queries by tenant and ownership; treat client-supplied identifiers, roles, and policy claims as untrusted.
  • Add deny-by-default policy tests for horizontal and vertical access across every affected transport.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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