MoodleCMS
CVE-2020-25698
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 · uneditedUsers' enrollment capabilities were not being sufficiently checked in Moodle when they are restored into an existing course. This could lead to them unenrolling users without having permission to do so. Versions affected: 3.5 to 3.5.14, 3.7 to 3.7.8, 3.8 to 3.8.5, 3.9 to 3.9.2 and earlier unsupported versions. Fixed in 3.9.3, 3.8.6, 3.7.9, 3.5.15, and 3.10.
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 confidenceIn Moodle, when restoring a course backup into an existing course, the enrollment capabilities were not being properly verified. This authorization flaw allowed users to unenroll other users from courses without having the required permissions to do so.
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
>= 3.5.0, <= 3.5.14>= 3.7.0, <= 3.7.8>= 3.8.0, <= 3.8.5>= 3.9.0, <= 3.9.2
FedoraOperating system
= 32= 33CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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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Check installed Moodle versionLog in as administrator, navigate to Site Administration > Server > Environment, or inspect the version.php file in the Moodle root directory (look for $version variable)Affected if The version falls within 3.5.0-3.5.14, 3.7.0-3.7.8, 3.8.0-3.8.5, or 3.9.0-3.9.2
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Identify course restore activityReview Moodle logs (Site Administration > Reports > Logs) for events containing 'restore' or 'course restore', focusing on operations that restore a backup into an existing courseAffected if Any course restore operations into existing courses have been performed on the system
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Audit enrollment changesQuery the Moodle database mdl_enrol table or review enrollment audit logs for unexpected unenrollments that coincide with course restore operationsAffected if Users were unenrolled from courses without corresponding manual unenrollment actions by authorized users
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Verify restore role permissionsCheck the capabilities assigned to roles that perform course restores: go to Site Administration > Users > Permissions > Check system permissions, and verify that roles with restore capability do not have elevated enrollment rights beyond what is intendedAffected if Roles assigned restore permissions also have broad unenrollment capabilities without proper restrictions
The environment is affected if Moodle version is 3.5.0-3.5.14, 3.7.0-3.7.8, 3.8.0-3.8.5, or 3.9.0-3.9.2 AND course restore into existing courses has been used, potentially resulting in unauthorized enrollment changes.
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 the fixed versions (3.9.3, 3.8.6, 3.7.9, 3.5.15, or 3.10) to patch the insufficient capability checks during course restoration.
Fix this in Moodle
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation6.0 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 $3,904.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-25698 — 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-2020-25698 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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