CVE-2012-4404
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 · uneditedsecurity/__init__.py in MoinMoin 1.9 through 1.9.4 does not properly handle group names that contain virtual group names such as "All," "Known," or "Trusted," which allows remote authenticated users with virtual group membership to be treated as a member of the group.
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 · moderate confidenceThe vulnerability exists in MoinMoin's security/__init__.py where group membership validation fails to properly sanitize or handle group names containing virtual group identifiers like 'All', 'Known', or 'Trusted'. This allows authenticated users who are members of these virtual groups to be incorrectly treated as members of regular groups, enabling unauthorized privilege escalation.
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= 1.9.0= 1.9.1= 1.9.2= 1.9.3= 1.9.4CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/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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Identify installed MoinMoin versionCheck the version.py file in the MoinMoin installation directory, or run a package query command if installed via a package manager (e.g., pip show, rpm -qi, dpkg -l)Affected if The version is 1.9.0, 1.9.1, 1.9.2, 1.9.3, or 1.9.4
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Locate the security moduleFind security/__init__.py within the MoinMoin installation directory (typically under MoinMoin/ or lib/python*/site-packages/MoinMoin/)Affected if The file exists in the expected location and the installed version is in the affected range
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Inspect group membership validation codeOpen security/__init__.py and search for functions that handle group membership checks (look for code that processes group names, especially references to 'All', 'Known', 'Trusted', or similar virtual group identifiers)Affected if The code does not explicitly differentiate virtual group names from regular group names during membership validation, or lacks specific handling for these special identifiers
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Check for virtual group usage in configurationExamine the MoinMoin configuration (typically wikiconfig.py or farmconfig.py) and any group definition files for references to virtual groups (groups named 'All', 'Known', 'Trusted') used alongside regular user groupsAffected if Virtual groups are defined or referenced in the configuration and the security/__init__.py file has not been patched
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Verify user-to-group assignmentsReview the user database or group storage files to confirm whether any user accounts are members of groups that may incorrectly include virtual group members due to the flawed validation logicAffected if Users are assigned to groups in a manner where virtual group membership could be incorrectly inherited due to the validation flaw
You are affected if running MoinMoin versions 1.9.0 through 1.9.4 and the security/__init__.py file contains the vulnerable group membership validation logic that fails to distinguish virtual groups from regular groups.
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 MoinMoin 1.9.5 or later which contains the proper fix, or manually patch security/__init__.py to correctly distinguish virtual group names from regular group names during membership checks.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-4404 — 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-2012-4404 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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