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MaharaApplication

CVE-2022-42707

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-11-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 21.04.7 / 21.10.5 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 Mahara 21.04 before 21.04.7, 21.10 before 21.10.5, 22.04 before 22.04.3, and 22.10 before 22.10.0, embedded images are accessible without a sufficient permission check under certain conditions.

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 versions 21.04 before 21.04.7, 21.10 before 21.10.5, 22.04 before 22.04.3, and 22.10 before 22.10.0 contain a broken access control vulnerability where embedded images in portfolios can be accessed without sufficient permission checks, allowing unauthorized users to view private content.

MitigationUpgrade Mahara to version 21.04.7, 21.10.5, 22.04.3, 22.10.0 or later. Until patched, restrict network access to the application from untrusted sources.

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:>= 21.04.0, < 21.04.7>= 21.10.0, < 21.10.5>= 22.04.0, < 22.04.3= 22.10.0

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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. Determine installed Mahara version
    Locate the version file in the Mahara installation directory, typically in a config.php file or version.php file in the root directory. Alternatively, access the Mahara administration panel and navigate to Site Administration -> General to view the installed version number.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 21.04.0 through 21.04.6, 21.10.0 through 21.10.4, 22.04.0 through 22.04.2, or exactly 22.10.0
  2. Verify portfolio feature is in use
    Check if Mahara portfolios or collections exist in the system. Log in as an administrator and navigate to the portfolio section, or query the database tables related to portfolios (typically tables with 'view' or 'collection' in the name).
    Affected if Users have created portfolios containing embedded images and these portfolios exist in the system
  3. Identify private or restricted portfolios with images
    Review portfolio visibility settings in the Mahara administration panel under Portfolio -> Views. Check for portfolios set to 'Private' or with restricted sharing permissions that contain embedded images.
    Affected if Private or restricted portfolios with embedded images exist, as these are the content types that could be accessed without proper authorization in affected versions

Your environment is affected if the installed Mahara version is 21.04.0-21.04.6, 21.10.0-21.10.4, 22.04.0-22.04.2, or exactly 22.10.0, and private portfolios with embedded images are present in the system.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 21.04.7 / 21.10.5 / 22.04.3 or later
Fixed in 21.04.721.10.522.04.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Mahara to version 21.04.7, 21.10.5, 22.04.3, 22.10.0 or later. Until patched, restrict network access to the application from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

21.04.7, 21.10.5, 22.04.3, or 22.10.1 (depending on your branch)

  1. 1. Backup your Mahara database and files before any upgrade.
  2. 2. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Mahara website: https://mahara.org/
  3. 3. For Mahara 21.04.x users: upgrade to version 21.04.7 or later.
  4. 4. For Mahara 21.10.x users: upgrade to version 21.10.5 or later.
  5. 5. For Mahara 22.04.x users: upgrade to version 22.04.3 or later.
  6. 6. For Mahara 22.10.0 users: upgrade to version 22.10.1 or later (once released), or wait for the patch.
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify that embedded images now require proper permission checks.
  8. 8. Test the image viewing functionality with different user permission levels to confirm the fix.
Caveat Always review release notes before upgrading; major version upgrades may require testing in a staging environment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Mahara Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,780
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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-2022-42707 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