FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject
CVE-2016-0725
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 the search_pagination function in course/classes/management_renderer.php in Moodle 2.8.x before 2.8.10, 2.9.x before 2.9.4, and 3.0.x before 3.0.2 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a crafted search string.
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 confidenceCross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Moodle's search_pagination function within course/classes/management_renderer.php. The function fails to properly sanitize user-supplied search strings before rendering them in HTML output, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary JavaScript or HTML via crafted search parameters.
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
FedoraOperating system
= 22= 23
MoodleCMS
= 2.8.0= 2.8.1= 2.8.2= 2.8.3= 2.8.4= 2.8.5= 2.8.6= 2.8.7= 2.8.8= 2.8.9= 2.9.0= 2.9.1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Moodle versionCheck your Moodle version by looking at version.php in the Moodle root directory, typically at /lib/version.php or by accessing the admin page /admin/ and looking at the server infoAffected if The installed version matches 2.8.0 through 2.9.1 inclusive (specifically 2.8.0, 2.8.1, 2.8.2, 2.8.3, 2.8.4, 2.8.5, 2.8.6, 2.8.7, 2.8.8, 2.8.9, 2.9.0, or 2.9.1)
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Locate the vulnerable fileFind the file course/classes/management_renderer.php in your Moodle installation directoryAffected if The file exists at course/classes/management_renderer.php in your Moodle directory
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Check for the search_pagination functionOpen management_renderer.php and locate the search_pagination function definitionAffected if The function exists in the file and performs output rendering without proper escaping of the search parameter
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Verify search functionality is accessibleCheck if the course management search feature is enabled in Moodle by navigating to Site Administration > Courses > Course management and attempting to use the search pagination featureAffected if The course management search interface is accessible to users who can trigger the search_pagination function with custom input
You are affected if your Moodle installation version is between 2.8.0 and 2.9.1 inclusive AND the search_pagination function in course/classes/management_renderer.php renders unsanitized user input in HTML output.
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 2.8.10, 2.9.4, 3.0.2 or later versions. Alternatively, apply proper output encoding/escaping to the search string in the search_pagination function before rendering.
Fix this in Fedora
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-2016-0725 — 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-2016-0725 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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