AtutorApplication

CVE-2017-1000003

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-07-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.2.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
ATutor versions 2.2.1 and earlier are vulnerable to an incorrect access control check vulnerability in the Social Application component resulting in privilege escalation. ATutor versions 2.2.1 and earlier are vulnerable to an incorrect access control check vulnerability in the Module component resulting in privilege escalation. ATutor versions 2.2.1 and earlier are vulnerable to a incorrect access control check vulnerability in the Alternative Content component resulting in privilege escalation.

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 confidence

ATutor LMS versions 2.2.1 and earlier contains incorrect access control check vulnerabilities in three separate components (Social Application, Module, and Alternative Content). These flaws allow unauthorized users to bypass permission checks and escalate privileges, potentially gaining administrative access to the learning management system. The critical CVSS score of 9.8 indicates the vulnerability is network-exploitable with low complexity and no authentication required.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of ATutor. If no upgrade is available, implement additional access control validation at the application layer for all three affected components and consider restricting network exposure until the vulnerability is remediated.

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
AtutorApplication
Affected:<= 2.2.1

CVSS 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Locate ATutor LMS installation
    Search web server document root directories for ATutor-specific folders (commonly named 'atutor', 'ATutor', or 'lms') or check for the presence of ATutor configuration files like 'include/config.inc.php'
    Affected if ATutor LMS is found on the system
  2. Identify installed ATutor version
    Check the version file in the ATutor installation directory, typically found in a version.php, about.php, or similar file in the root or include/ directory
    Affected if The version number is 2.2.1 or lower
  3. Determine if Social Application component is accessible
    Attempt to access the Social Application module through the web interface by navigating to paths like /social/ or checking for social module functionality in the modules directory
    Affected if The Social Application component is installed and accessible to unauthenticated users
  4. Determine if Module component is accessible
    Check the modules/ directory within the ATutor installation and attempt to access module functionality without authentication
    Affected if The Module component is installed and accessible without authentication
  5. Determine if Alternative Content component is accessible
    Check for Alternative Content functionality through web paths such as /content/alternative/ or similar routes and attempt access without logging in
    Affected if The Alternative Content component is installed and exposed without authentication

A system is affected if it runs ATutor LMS version 2.2.1 or earlier with any of the three vulnerable components (Social Application, Module, or Alternative Content) accessible to unauthenticated users on the network.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.2.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of ATutor. If no upgrade is available, implement additional access control validation at the application layer for all three affected components and consider restricting network exposure until the vulnerability is remediated.

Fix this in Atutor Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,880
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,808.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-1000003 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-1000003 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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