Discourse hardens chat DM channel creation and expansion

Discourse is an open-source discussion platform. Versions prior to 2026.3.0, 2026.2.1, and 2026.1.2 have two authorization issues in the chat direct message API. First, when creating a direct message channel or adding users to an existing one, the target_groups parameter was passed directly to the user resolution query without checking group or member visibility for the acting user. An authenticated chat user could craft an API request with a known private/hidden group name and receive a channel containing that group's members, leaking their identities. Second, can_chat? only checked group membership, not the chat_enabled user preference. A chat-disabled user could create or query DM channels between other users via the direct messages API, potentially exposing private last_message content from the serialized channel response. Versions 2026.3.0, 2026.2.1, and 2026.1.2 contain a patch. No known workarounds are available.