MoodleCMS
CVE-2020-25700
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 · uneditedIn moodle, some database module web services allowed students to add entries within groups they did not belong to. 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 3.8.6, 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 confidenceMoodle's database module web service API lacked proper group membership validation, allowing authenticated student users to add entries to database groups they were not assigned to. This is a broken access control vulnerability in the web services layer.
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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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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Determine installed Moodle versionAccess the site administration panel, navigate to Site administration > Server > System paths, or check the version.php file in the Moodle root directory (look for $version variable). Alternatively, add /admin/footer.php to your Moodle URL to see version info if visible.Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 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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Verify the database module is enabledLog in as administrator and navigate to Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Manage activities, or check the database module is listed as enabled in the activities section of site administration.Affected if The database activity module is installed and enabled on the site
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Confirm web services are enabledNavigate to Site administration > Advanced features and verify 'Enable web services' is set to Yes. Also check Site administration > Plugins > Web services > Manage protocols to see which protocols are active.Affected if Web services are enabled and at least one protocol (such as REST or SOAP) is active
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Check database module group functionality usageNavigate to any course, add a Database activity, go to the Templates or Fields settings, and check if group mode is enabled (Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Database > Manage standard tags or within the specific database activity settings).Affected if The database module is being used with group-based entries and users have access to web service tokens
A user is affected if their Moodle version is in the affected ranges AND the database module AND web services are both enabled, allowing potentially unauthorized group membership access via the API.
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 3.8.6, 3.7.9, 3.5.15, or 3.10 and later to patch the missing group membership checks in the database module web services.
Fix this in Moodle
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-25700 — 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-2020-25700 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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