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MaharaApplication

CVE-2017-17454

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-02-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.10.7 / 17.04.5 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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
Mahara 16.10 before 16.10.7 and 17.04 before 17.04.5 and 17.10 before 17.10.2 have a Cross Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability when a user enters invalid UTF-8 characters. These are now going to be discarded in Mahara along with NULL characters and invalid Unicode characters. Mahara will also avoid direct $_GET and $_POST usage where possible, and instead use param_exists() and the correct param_*() function to fetch the expected value.

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

Mahara contains a stored Cross Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability where invalid UTF-8 characters, NULL characters, and invalid Unicode characters are not properly sanitized when submitted by users. The application previously used direct $_GET and $_POST access without proper validation, allowing malicious scripts to be stored and executed in user browsers.

MitigationUpgrade Mahara to version 16.10.7, 17.04.5, or 17.10.2 or later, which implement proper input validation to discard invalid UTF-8, NULL, and Unicode characters, and use parameterized input functions instead of direct superglobal access.

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
MaharaApplication
Affected:>= 16.10.0, < 16.10.7>= 17.04.0, < 17.04.5>= 17.10.0, < 17.10.2

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify Mahara installation and version
    Locate the Mahara installation directory and find the version file. Typically found in the root directory as 'version.php' or check the admin interface under 'Administration > Configuration > General'. The version is often defined in a file like 'htdocs/lib/version.php' with a $config->version variable.
    Affected if The installed version is 16.10.0 through 16.10.6, 17.04.0 through 17.04.4, or 17.10.0 through 17.10.1.
  2. Check for direct $_GET/$_POST usage without sanitization
    Search the codebase for direct superglobal access without proper escaping. Use grep or similar tools to find patterns like $_GET['parameter'] or $_POST['parameter'] that are not passed through a sanitization function. Focus on files in the htdocs/ directory, especially in form handling and user input processing areas.
    Affected if Code contains direct $_GET or $_POST access without sanitization functions such as hsc(), s(), or proper charset validation.
  3. Verify input validation for UTF-8/Unicode characters
    Examine the application's input handling code for proper validation that rejects invalid UTF-8, NULL bytes, and invalid Unicode characters. Check if the application implements functions like mb_check_encoding() or uses PHP's mbstring functions to validate input before processing.
    Affected if Input validation is missing or does not properly reject invalid UTF-8 sequences, NULL characters, or malformed Unicode.
  4. Inspect form submission handlers for XSS filters
    Review form processing files in the htdocs/auth/, htdocs/lib/, and htdocs/module/ directories. Look for the presence of XSS filtering or input sanitization in user-submitted content handlers, particularly in profile fields, textareas, and form inputs.
    Affected if Form handlers lack proper XSS filtering or character validation on user-submitted content.

You are affected if Mahara is installed with a version between 16.10.0-16.10.6, 17.04.0-17.04.4, or 17.10.0-17.10.1, and the codebase lacks proper input validation for invalid UTF-8, NULL, and Unicode characters.

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 16.10.7 / 17.04.5 / 17.10.2 or later
Fixed in 16.10.717.04.517.10.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Mahara to version 16.10.7, 17.04.5, or 17.10.2 or later, which implement proper input validation to discard invalid UTF-8, NULL, and Unicode characters, and use parameterized input functions instead of direct superglobal access.

Fix this in Mahara Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
25.0 hours of engineering $4,400
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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-2017-17454 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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