MoodleCMS
CVE-2016-2190
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 · uneditedMoodle through 2.6.11, 2.7.x before 2.7.13, 2.8.x before 2.8.11, 2.9.x before 2.9.5, and 3.0.x before 3.0.3 does not properly restrict links, which allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive URL information by reading a Referer log.
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 · moderate confidenceMoodle fails to properly restrict links, causing sensitive URL information (potentially including session tokens, user identifiers, or privileged action URLs) to be transmitted via HTTP Referer headers and logged where attackers can read them.
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= 2.7.10CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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 versionLocate the version.php file in the Moodle root directory and read the $release or $version variables, or access Site Administration > Server > Environment to view the installed versionAffected if The version displayed is <= 2.6.11 or between 2.7.0 and 2.7.10 inclusive
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Compare version to affected rangesManually verify if your installed version matches any of these: 2.6.11 or lower; 2.7.0 through 2.7.10Affected if Your installed version appears in the affected list provided in the CVE
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Determine if external links are usedReview Moodle pages for any outbound links to external domains or third-party resources that could trigger Referer header transmissionAffected if External links exist in your Moodle installation and users click on them, causing Referer headers with potentially sensitive URL parameters to be sent to external sites
You are affected if your installed Moodle version is 2.6.11 or lower, or any version from 2.7.0 through 2.7.10, and users click on links that could leak session or privilege information via HTTP Referer headers.
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 2.7.13, 2.8.11, 2.9.5, or 3.0.3 or later. Additionally, configure servers to strip or filter Referer headers from outgoing requests to untrusted domains.
Fix this in Moodle
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,040.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2190 — 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-2016-2190 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