dbcve.org
MoodleCMS

CVE-2020-25699

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-11-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.9.2 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
In moodle, insufficient capability checks could lead to users with the ability to course restore adding additional capabilities to roles within that course. Versions affected: 3.9 to 3.9.2, 3.8 to 3.8.5, 3.7 to 3.7.8, 3.5 to 3.5.14 and earlier unsupported versions. This is fixed in moodle 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 confidence

Insufficient capability checks in Moodle's course restore functionality allow users with course restore permissions to escalate privileges by adding arbitrary capabilities to roles within restored courses, bypassing role permission restrictions.

MitigationUpgrade Moodle to version 3.9.3, 3.8.6, 3.7.9, 3.5.15, or 3.10 or later to apply the vendor patch that adds proper capability validation during course restore operations.

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
Affected:>= 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
Affected:= 32= 33

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify Moodle version
    Run: grep -r 'version' /path/to/moodle/version.php | head -5 or check Admin > Server > Environment page in Moodle web interface
    Affected if Installed 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
  2. Verify course restore capability exists
    In Moodle admin, go to Site Administration > Users > Permissions > Define roles and check if 'moodle/restore:restore' capability is defined
    Affected if The restore capability exists and is assigned to any user role other than administrator
  3. Check for non-admin users with restore permission
    Run SQL query: SELECT u.id, u.username, r.name as rolename FROM mdl_role_capabilities rc JOIN mdl_role r ON r.id=rc.roleid JOIN mdl_user u ON u.id=rc.userid WHERE rc.capability='moodle/restore:restore' AND rc.permission=1 AND r.id NOT IN (1,2,3)
    Affected if Any non-administrative users have been granted restore permissions
  4. Audit recent role changes in restored courses
    Check Moodle logs (Site Administration > Reports > Logs) for events involving role assignments after course restores, filter by 'role assigned' events
    Affected if Role assignments were made to restored courses that grant elevated capabilities beyond what the restorer should have
  5. Review course backup files for suspicious role definitions
    Examine .mbz backup files using unzip -q -o backup.mbz '*.xml' and inspect role definitions in backup.xml for capabilities that should not be present in the source course
    Affected if Backup files contain role definitions with capabilities beyond standard teaching roles

Your environment is affected if you run a vulnerable Moodle version (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 any non-administrative users have been granted course restore permissions.

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 3.9.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Moodle to version 3.9.3, 3.8.6, 3.7.9, 3.5.15, or 3.10 or later to apply the vendor patch that adds proper capability validation during course restore operations.

Fix this in Moodle Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-25699 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-25699 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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