MoodleCMS
CVE-2022-45151
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 · uneditedThe stored-XSS vulnerability was discovered in Moodle which exists due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied data in several "social" user profile fields. An attacker could inject and execute arbitrary HTML and script code in user's browser in context of vulnerable website.
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 confidenceA stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in Moodle due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied data in social user profile fields. Attackers can inject malicious HTML or JavaScript code into these fields, which executes when other users view the attacker's profile.
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
>= 3.11.0, < 3.11.11>= 4.0.0, < 4.0.5
FedoraOperating system
= 35= 36= 37CVSS 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:3.1/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 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 Server > Environment, or check the version.php file in the Moodle installation directory (usually /lib/version.php). Look for the $release or $version variable.Affected if The installed version is 3.11.0 through 3.11.10, or 4.0.0 through 4.0.4 (these fall within the affected ranges of >=3.11.0,<3.11.11 and >=4.0.0,<4.0.5).
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Verify social profile functionality is accessibleNavigate to a user's profile page and locate the social profile section (usually includes fields such as city, country, ICQ number, Skype ID, Yahoo ID, and custom profile fields). Check if these fields are visible and editable by users.Affected if Social profile fields are visible and editable to users, as the XSS vulnerability exists specifically in these user-controllable fields.
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Inspect profile field input handlingEdit your own social profile fields and inject a test payload such as <script>alert('XSS')</script> or <img src=x onerror=alert('XSS')> into a social field (e.g., city or ICQ number). Save the profile and view it.Affected if The injected script or HTML executes or renders unescaped when you or another user views the profile page, indicating the vulnerability is present.
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Check if multiple user roles can view profilesLog in as a different user (such as a student or regular user) and navigate to the profile of the account where you injected the test payload. Confirm whether the injected content is displayed.Affected if The malicious payload executes when viewed by other users, confirming the stored XSS affects other users who view the attacker's profile.
A user is affected if they are running a vulnerable Moodle version (3.11.0-3.11.10 or 4.0.0-4.0.4) AND social profile fields are accessible to users, with unescaped content rendering in profiles.
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.
dbcve · scoped3.11.114.0.5
Update Moodle to the latest patched version or implement proper input sanitization on all social profile fields using Moodle's built-in context-specific escaping functions.
Moodle 3.11.11 or Moodle 4.0.5 (depending on current major version)
- If running Moodle 3.11.x: Upgrade to Moodle 3.11.11
- If running Moodle 4.0.x: Upgrade to Moodle 4.0.5
- Alternatively, apply vendor-supplied patches from git.moodle.org for the specific commit fixes
- For Fedora systems: Run 'dnf update moodle' to obtain patched packages for Fedora 35, 36, or 37
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Moodle
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-45151 — 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-2022-45151 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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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.
- 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