Unauthorized category moves via unchecked parent context
Published Nov 9, 2023 · Updated Aug 2, 2024
Improper privilege management in Moodle LMS allows remote authenticated users to move course categories across permission boundaries. The core_course_external::update_categories method checked moodle/category:manage only in the category's current context and accepted a new parent without validating the destination context. Exploitation requires an account that can manage the source category; it enables unauthorized restructuring under a parent the account cannot manage.
Summary
What happened
Improper privilege management in Moodle LMS allows remote authenticated users to move course categories across permission boundaries. The core_course_external::update_categories method checked moodle/category:manage only in the category's current context and accepted a new parent without validating the destination context. Exploitation requires an account that can manage the source category; it enables unauthorized restructuring under a parent the account cannot manage.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-5549
- Published
- Nov 9, 2023
- Updated
- Aug 2, 2024
- Vendor
- Moodle
- Product
- Moodle LMS
- Classifications
- CWE-269, CWE-284, T1565.001
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Nov 9, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 2, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <3.9.24
- Affected versionversion=3.11.0 <3.11.17
- Affected versionversion=4.0.0 <4.0.11
- Affected versionversion=4.1.0 <4.1.6
- Affected versionversion=4.2.0 <4.2.3
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo