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MoodleCMS

CVE-2011-4297

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-07-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
comment/lib.php in Moodle 2.0.x before 2.0.4 and 2.1.x before 2.1.1 does not properly restrict comment capabilities, which allows remote attackers to post a comment by leveraging the guest role and operating on a front-page activity.

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 confidence

In Moodle 2.0.x before 2.0.4 and 2.1.x before 2.1.1, the comment/lib.php component fails to properly enforce capability checks when processing comment submissions. Specifically, guest users (who should have read-only access) can post comments on front-page activities because the code does not validate whether the user has the appropriate 'mod/comment:post' capability before allowing comment creation.

MitigationUpgrade to Moodle 2.0.4, 2.1.1, or later versions which contain the fixed capability checks in comment/lib.php. As a temporary workaround, disable comments on front-page activities or restrict the guest role permissions until the upgrade can be completed.

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
Affected:= 2.0.0= 2.0.1= 2.0.2= 2.0.3= 2.1.0

CVSS 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
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Moodle version
    Navigate to Site Administration > Server > System paths or view the version.php file in the Moodle root directory to determine the exact version number
    Affected if The version is 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, or 2.1.0 (these are the affected versions)
  2. Verify guest user access is enabled
    Go to Site Administration > Users > Permissions > Define roles and check if the guest role is set to allow access, or inspect the guest role permissions table in the database
    Affected if Guest users are allowed to access the site and are not explicitly prevented from posting comments
  3. Confirm comments are enabled on front-page activities
    Navigate to the site front page in Moodle, view activities (such as forums, assignments, or resources), and check if the comment block/feature is present and active on any front-page activities
    Affected if Comments are enabled and visible on activities placed on the front page
  4. Inspect comment/lib.php for capability validation
    Locate the comment/lib.php file in the /comment directory of the Moodle installation and examine the code that handles comment submission (typically the comment::add() or similar function) to see if it calls require_capability('mod/comment:post') before allowing creation
    Affected if The file lacks a proper require_capability('mod/comment:post') check before allowing guest users to submit comments

A user is affected if their Moodle installation is version 2.0.0-2.0.3 or 2.1.0, guest access is enabled, comments are placed on front-page activities, and the comment/lib.php file does not enforce the mod/comment:post capability check before allowing comment submissions.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to Moodle 2.0.4, 2.1.1, or later versions which contain the fixed capability checks in comment/lib.php. As a temporary workaround, disable comments on front-page activities or restrict the guest role permissions until the upgrade can be completed.

Fix this in Moodle Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-4297 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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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