MoodleCMS
CVE-2015-5264
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 lesson module in Moodle through 2.6.11, 2.7.x before 2.7.10, 2.8.x before 2.8.8, and 2.9.x before 2.9.2 allows remote authenticated users to bypass intended access restrictions and enter additional answer attempts by leveraging the student role.
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 lesson module in Moodle versions 2.6.x through 2.9.x allows authenticated users with the student role to bypass intended access restrictions and enter additional answer attempts beyond what is configured by the instructor. This is an authorization bypass vulnerability in the lesson module's attempt management logic.
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
<= 2.6.11= 2.7.0= 2.7.1= 2.7.2= 2.7.3= 2.7.4= 2.7.5= 2.7.6= 2.7.7= 2.7.8= 2.7.9= 2.8.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check Moodle versionLocate the version.php file in the Moodle root directory (version.php) or access Site Administration > Server > Environment to view the installed Moodle version.Affected if The installed version is 2.6.0 through 2.6.11, 2.7.0 through 2.7.9, or 2.8.0.
-
Confirm lesson module is presentNavigate to Site Administration > Plugins > Activity modules and verify the lesson module is listed as installed, or check for the /mod/lesson directory in the Moodle filesystem.Affected if The lesson module is installed and available in the environment.
-
Verify lesson module is enabledGo to Site Administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Manage activities and confirm the lesson module status is set to 'Enabled'.Affected if The lesson module is enabled.
-
Identify active lesson activitiesSearch the database in the mdl_lesson table (or browse courses to view lesson activities) to see if any lessons are currently in use.Affected if Any lesson activities exist in courses where students have access.
A user is affected if their Moodle installation runs a version between 2.6.0 and 2.8.0 inclusive AND the lesson module is enabled with active lesson activities available to student users.
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 Moodle to version 2.7.10, 2.8.8, 2.9.2 or later. Alternatively, disable the lesson module if upgrading is not immediately feasible.
Fix this in Moodle
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-5264 — 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-2015-5264 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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