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MoodleCMS

CVE-2015-3274

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-02-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the user_get_user_details function in user/lib.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 inject arbitrary web script or HTML by leveraging absence of an external_format_text call in a web service.

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

Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Moodle's web service function user_get_user_details in user/lib.php allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via user profile data. The vulnerability stems from the absence of an external_format_text call that would normally sanitize output before returning it through the web service API.

MitigationUpgrade to Moodle versions 2.7.9, 2.8.7, 2.9.1 or later. Alternatively, apply the patch that adds the missing external_format_text call to sanitize user data in the user_get_user_details function.

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:= 2.6.0= 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= 2.7.0

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed Moodle version
    Check the version.php file in your Moodle installation root directory, or access Site Administration > Server > Environment to view the Moodle version.
    Affected if Version is 2.6.0 through 2.6.10 inclusive, or exactly 2.7.0 (these are the affected versions)
  2. Verify web services are enabled
    Navigate to Site Administration > Plugins > Web services > Overview, or check the 'enablewebservices' setting in config.php. Web services must be enabled for this vulnerability to be exploitable.
    Affected if Web services are enabled and the user_get_user_details function is exposed to external clients or users
  3. Confirm user profile data is returned via web service
    Use the Moodle web service API to call user_get_user_details with a test user account that has profile data. Check the returned XML or JSON for user profile fields.
    Affected if The function returns unsanitized HTML or script tags in profile fields such as description, custom profile fields, or other user profile data
  4. Inspect the source code for missing sanitization
    Examine user/lib.php in your Moodle installation, specifically the user_get_user_details function. Look for whether external_format_text is called before returning user data.
    Affected if The function returns user data without calling external_format_text, meaning raw HTML from profile fields is returned unchanged

Your Moodle instance is affected if it runs version 2.6.0-2.6.10 or 2.7.0, has web services enabled, and returns user profile data through the user_get_user_details function without sanitization.

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 versions 2.7.9, 2.8.7, 2.9.1 or later. Alternatively, apply the patch that adds the missing external_format_text call to sanitize user data in the user_get_user_details function.

Fix this in Moodle Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,040
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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-2015-3274 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data