MoodleCMS
CVE-2015-5269
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 · uneditedCross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in group/overview.php 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 inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a modified grouping description.
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 confidenceStored XSS vulnerability in Moodle's group/overview.php allows authenticated users to inject arbitrary JavaScript/HTML via the grouping description field. The application fails to properly sanitize output when displaying grouping descriptions, allowing scripts to execute in the context of other users viewing group overviews.
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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check your Moodle versionNavigate to Site Administration > Server > Environment or check the version.php file in the Moodle root directory. The version is typically displayed on the front page admin dashboard or can be found in version.php ($release or $version variables).Affected if The installed version is 2.6.11 or lower, or exactly 2.7.0 through 2.7.9, or exactly 2.8.0.
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Verify the group/overview.php file existsLocate the file /group/overview.php in your Moodle installation directory and confirm it is present and readable.Affected if The file exists, indicating the group overview functionality is enabled.
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Confirm group management access is availableCheck if authenticated users have the capability to create or edit groups. Go to Site Administration > Users > Permissions > Define roles and verify if standard authenticated user roles can access group creation in the Groups functionality.Affected if Authenticated users have role capabilities allowing them to create or edit groups and groupings.
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Inspect grouping descriptions in the databaseQuery the database table mdl_groupings (or groupings) for records that may contain HTML or script tags in the description field. Use: SELECT id, name, description FROM mdl_groupings WHERE description LIKE '%<script%' OR description LIKE '%javascript:%' OR description LIKE '%onload=%'.Affected if Any grouping records contain unsanitized HTML or JavaScript in the description field.
You are affected if your Moodle version falls within the affected range AND the group/overview.php functionality is accessible to users who can create or edit group descriptions.
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 dataUpdate to Moodle versions 2.7.10, 2.8.8, 2.9.2 or later. Until patched, restrict group management permissions to trusted users and consider disabling group descriptions temporarily.
Fix this in Moodle
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-5269 — 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-2015-5269 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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- 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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