MoodleCMS
CVE-2016-3731
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 3.0 through 3.0.3, 2.9 through 2.9.5, and 2.8 through 2.8.11 allows remote attackers to obtain the names of hidden forums and forum discussions.
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 confidenceMoodle fails to properly enforce access controls on hidden forums, allowing remote unauthenticated attackers to discover the names of hidden forums and their discussions through direct access or enumeration.
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
= 2.8.0= 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= 2.8.10= 2.8.11CVSS 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.
-
Check your Moodle versionLog into the Moodle admin dashboard and navigate to Site Administration > Server > Environment, or check the version.php file in the Moodle root directory.Affected if The installed version is any of the following: 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, 2.8.10, or 2.8.11.
-
Verify the Forum activity module is enabledNavigate to Site Administration > Plugins > Activity modules and confirm the Forum module is installed and enabled.Affected if The Forum module is enabled and your Moodle version falls within the affected range listed above.
-
Identify hidden forums in your Moodle siteAccess the Moodle database and query for forums with visibility set to hidden, or use the Moodle admin interface to list all forums and check their visibility settings in each course.Affected if Any forum is configured with hidden visibility in any course.
-
Test access to hidden forum content via direct URLAttempt to access hidden forum discussion pages using direct URL patterns such as /mod/forum/view.php?id=XX or /mod/forum/discuss.php?d=XX where XX is a forum or discussion ID, without being logged in or without proper permissions.Affected if Unauthenticated users or users without proper role permissions can view the names of hidden forums or their discussions.
You are affected if your Moodle installation runs version 2.8.0 through 2.8.11 and has hidden forums configured, especially if those forums are accessible to unauthenticated users or users lacking view hidden activities permission.
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 3.0.4+, 2.9.6+, or 2.8.12+ to receive the patched code that properly restricts access to hidden forum content.
Fix this in Moodle
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3731 — 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-2016-3731 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