MoodleCMS
CVE-2011-4295
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe moodle_enrol_external:role_assign function in enrol/externallib.php in Moodle 2.0.x before 2.0.4 and 2.1.x before 2.1.1 does not have an authorization check, which allows remote authenticated users to gain privileges by making a role assignment.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe moodle_enrol_external:role_assign function in enrol/externallib.php for Moodle 2.0.x before 2.0.4 and 2.1.x before 2.1.1 lacks an authorization check, allowing any remote authenticated user to arbitrarily assign roles and elevate their privileges within the Moodle platform.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
MoodleCMS
= 2.0.0= 2.0.1= 2.0.2= 2.0.3= 2.1.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Moodle versionNavigate to Site Administration > Server > Environment or view the version.php file in the Moodle root directory (look for $release or $version variables)Affected if The version is 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, or 2.1.0
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Verify external enrollment plugin is enabledNavigate to Site Administration > Plugins > Enrollment plugins and check if 'External database' or related external enrollment methods are enabled, or check the enrol/ directory for active external enrollment pluginsAffected if External enrollment plugins are installed and enabled in the Moodle instance
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Confirm web services are enabledNavigate to Site Administration > Plugins > Web services > Overview and check if web services are enabled, or check the admin/settings.php?section=webservices overview pageAffected if Moodle web services are enabled and allow external API access
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Inspect the enrol/externallib.php file for missing capability checkLocate the role_assign function in enrol/externallib.php and verify if it calls require_capability or checks for the enrol/external:role_assign capability before performing role assignmentsAffected if The role_assign function lacks a require_capability call or equivalent authorization check for the enrol/external:role_assign capability
A user is affected if their Moodle installation is version 2.0.0-2.0.3 or 2.1.0 AND external enrollment services are enabled, allowing any authenticated user to arbitrarily assign roles through the missing authorization check in the role_assign function.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade to Moodle 2.0.4, 2.1.1, or later which incorporate the missing authorization validation for the role_assign function.
Fix this in Moodle
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-4295 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-4295 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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