MoodleCMS
CVE-2015-3272
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 · uneditedOpen redirect vulnerability in the clean_param function in lib/moodlelib.php in Moodle through 2.6.11, 2.7.x before 2.7.9, 2.8.x before 2.8.7, and 2.9.x before 2.9.1 allows remote attackers to redirect users to arbitrary web sites and conduct phishing attacks via vectors involving an HTTP Referer header that has a substring match with a local URL.
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 confidenceOpen redirect vulnerability in Moodle's clean_param function in lib/moodlelib.php allows remote attackers to conduct phishing attacks by manipulating the HTTP Referer header to redirect users to arbitrary external websites. The function improperly validates Referer headers that contain a substring match with a local URL, bypassing intended restrictions.
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
= 2.6.0= 2.6.1= 2.6.2= 2.6.3= 2.6.4= 2.6.5= 2.6.6= 2.6.7= 2.6.8= 2.6.9= 2.6.10= 2.7.0CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
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 Moodle installation versionLocate the version.php file in your Moodle installation directory (typically in the root or version directory) and read the $release or $version variable to determine the installed Moodle versionAffected if The installed version matches 2.6.0 through 2.6.10, or exactly 2.7.0
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Locate the clean_param functionOpen lib/moodlelib.php and search for the clean_param function definition, specifically the code handling HTTP Referer header validationAffected if The file contains the clean_param function with Referer validation logic from an affected version
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Verify Referer validation logicExamine the Referer validation code within clean_param to confirm it uses substring matching (such as strpos or similar) to compare the Referer header against allowed local URLsAffected if The code performs a substring match that can be bypassed by crafting a Referer header containing a local URL as a substring of a malicious external URL
You are affected if your Moodle installation runs version 2.6.0 through 2.6.10 or version 2.7.0 AND uses the clean_param function for Referer header validation that relies on substring matching.
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 versions 2.7.9, 2.8.7, 2.9.1 or later, or apply the vendor-supplied patch to fix the Referer header validation in the clean_param function.
Fix this in Moodle
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-3272 — 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-2015-3272 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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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.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data