Ghost Release: 4.3.1

TL;DR

Ghost v4.3.1: Critical Bug Fix for Member Signup Settings

This patch release fixes a critical bug in Ghost 4.3.0 that incorrectly enabled free member signup on sites that were previously configured as paid or invite-only. The update also improves Stripe integration by making the prices/products table population more resilient when handling legacy subscription data.

Highlight of the Release

• Fixed critical bug that incorrectly enabled free member signup on previously paid or invite-only sites
• Improved Stripe prices/products table population to handle legacy subscription data gracefully
• Enhanced resilience for sites with old Stripe Direct subscriptions

Migration Guide

Post-Update Steps

If you upgraded from a version prior to v4.3.0 to v4.3.0 and had previously disabled free member signup (using paid-only or invite-only configuration), you will need to:

1. Navigate to your Ghost Admin panel
2. Go to Settings > Membership
3. Check the status of the Allow free member signup toggle
4. If it's enabled and should be disabled, toggle it back to the disabled state
5. Save your settings

No database migrations or other manual steps are required for this update.

Upgrade Recommendations

Immediate Upgrade Recommended

This patch release fixes a critical bug that could impact your site's membership configuration. All Ghost users currently on v4.3.0 should upgrade to v4.3.1 immediately.

If you're on an earlier version than v4.3.0, you can safely upgrade directly to v4.3.1 to avoid encountering the bug present in v4.3.0.

Bug Fixes

Member Signup Settings Fix

Fixed a critical bug introduced in v4.3.0 that incorrectly enabled free member signup on sites that were previously configured as paid or invite-only. After upgrading to v4.3.1, site owners will need to manually toggle the Allow free member signup setting to disabled again if their site was affected.

Stripe Integration Improvements

Updated the Stripe prices/products table population process to handle legacy subscription data more gracefully. Previously, the system would throw an error and halt the migration when encountering subscriptions from old Stripe accounts (likely added during the Stripe Direct period). Now, these legacy subscriptions are properly ignored during the migration process, allowing the data population to complete successfully.

New Features

No new features were introduced in this patch release. This is strictly a bug fix update.

Security Updates

No security fixes were included in this patch release.

Performance Improvements

No specific performance improvements were included in this patch release.

Impact Summary

This patch release addresses a critical bug in Ghost v4.3.0 that incorrectly enabled free member signup on sites previously configured as paid or invite-only. This could potentially allow unauthorized free signups on sites that were intended to be restricted.

The update also improves the Stripe integration by making the prices/products table population process more resilient when handling legacy subscription data from old Stripe accounts. This prevents migration errors for sites that still have customer subscriptions in their database from previous Stripe integrations, particularly from the Stripe Direct period.

While the impact of the member signup bug could be significant for sites relying on paid-only or invite-only access, the fix is straightforward and requires only a simple configuration adjustment after updating. The Stripe integration improvement is more technical in nature but provides better reliability for sites with complex subscription history.

Full Release Notes