MoodleCMS
CVE-2024-33998
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 · uneditedInsufficient escaping of participants' names in the participants page table resulted in a stored XSS risk when interacting with some features.
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 XSS vulnerability exists in the participants page where participant names are rendered in a table without proper HTML escaping. An attacker can inject malicious JavaScript via a participant name that will execute when other users view the participants page.
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
< 4.1.10>= 4.2.0, < 4.2.7>= 4.3.0, < 4.3.4CVSS 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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Identify installed Moodle versionCheck the version.php file in /lib/ directory, or access Site Administration > Server > Environment page, or view the $version variable in config.phpAffected if Version is below 4.1.10, OR between 4.2.0 and 4.2.6 inclusive, OR between 4.3.0 and 4.3.3 inclusive
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Verify participants page is accessibleConfirm the participants functionality exists by accessing /user/index.php or navigating to Site Administration > Users > Permissions > Participant overridesAffected if The participants page feature is present and accessible to users
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Check for XSS payload injection in user profilesQuery the mdl_user table directly for unsanitized HTML or script tags in the firstname or lastname fields using: SELECT id, firstname, lastname, username FROM mdl_user WHERE firstname LIKE '%<%' OR lastname LIKE '%<%'Affected if Any user records contain unescaped HTML characters such as <script, <img, or javascript: in name fields
You are affected if your Moodle version falls within the affected ranges AND the participants page is accessible to users who can modify their profile names.
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 · scoped4.1.104.2.74.3.4
Implement proper output encoding/HTML escaping for all participant name fields before rendering in the table. Validate and sanitize input on submission, and ensure all display locations apply context-appropriate escaping.
Moodle 4.1.10, 4.2.7, or 4.3.4 (depending on your current branch)
- Identify the currently installed Moodle version by checking the version.php file in the Moodle root directory or the admin page
- For Moodle 4.1.x versions: Upgrade to version 4.1.10 or later
- For Moodle 4.2.x versions: Upgrade to version 4.2.7 or later
- For Moodle 4.3.x versions: Upgrade to version 4.3.4 or later
- Download the appropriate upgrade package from moodle.org or use your package manager
- Backup the current Moodle installation and database before upgrading
- Follow the standard Moodle upgrade process: place site in maintenance mode, replace files, run the upgrade script via CLI (php admin/cli/upgrade.php) or web interface
- Verify the upgrade was successful and test the participants page
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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-2024-33998 — 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-2024-33998 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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