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MediawikiCMS

CVE-2024-40597

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.42.1 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
An issue was discovered in the CheckUser extension for MediaWiki through 1.42.1. It can expose suppressed information for log events. (The log_deleted attribute is not respected.)

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

The CheckUser extension for MediaWiki versions through 1.42.1 fails to respect the log_deleted attribute when displaying log events. This allows suppressed or hidden log entries to be exposed to users who should not have access to that information, constituting an information disclosure vulnerability.

MitigationUpdate the CheckUser extension to a version that properly respects the log_deleted attribute, or upgrade MediaWiki to a version that includes the patched CheckUser extension.

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
MediawikiCMS
Affected:<= 1.42.1

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. Check MediaWiki version
    Navigate to Special:Version on your wiki or check the includes/Defines.php file for the MW_VERSION constant
    Affected if MediaWiki version is 1.42.1 or lower
  2. Verify CheckUser extension is installed
    Check the extensions/CheckUser directory exists and the extension is loaded in LocalSettings.php or the installed extensions list at Special:Version
    Affected if CheckUser extension is installed and enabled
  3. Identify users with CheckUser rights
    Check Special:UserRights or the database table 'user_groups' for users in the 'checkuser' or 'checkuser-limited' groups
    Affected if Users exist with CheckUser permissions who should not see suppressed log entries
  4. Review log events for suppressed entries
    Use the API or database to query the 'logging' table for entries where 'log_deleted' bitmask has bits set (value > 0), or check Special:Log for entries visible to users who should not see deleted/suppressed actions
    Affected if Suppressed or hidden log entries are visible to users in the checkuser group who lack the necessary hide*-rights
  5. Confirm log_deleted attribute enforcement
    Compare log entries visible to checkuser users against the actual log_deleted values in the logging table - entries should be hidden when log_deleted bits are set for rights the user lacks
    Affected if Log entries with log_deleted bits set are being displayed to users who lack the corresponding hide-log entries rights

Your wiki is affected if running MediaWiki 1.42.1 or earlier with the CheckUser extension enabled, and users with CheckUser rights can view log entries that have log_deleted attributes set for rights they do not possess.

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 a release after 1.42.1
Interim mitigation

Update the CheckUser extension to a version that properly respects the log_deleted attribute, or upgrade MediaWiki to a version that includes the patched CheckUser extension.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

MediaWiki 1.42.2 or later

  1. 1. Backup your MediaWiki installation and database before proceeding with any upgrade.
  2. 2. Check the current MediaWiki version by navigating to Special:Version on your wiki.
  3. 3. Download MediaWiki version 1.42.2 or later from the official MediaWiki releases page (https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Download).
  4. 4. Extract the new version files, ensuring the CheckUser extension is also updated to a compatible version.
  5. 5. Replace the existing MediaWiki files with the new version files, preserving your LocalSettings.php configuration.
  6. 6. Run the update.php maintenance script: php maintenance/update.php
  7. 7. Verify the CheckUser extension is properly installed and enabled.
  8. 8. Test that suppressed log entries are no longer exposed by the CheckUser tool.
Caveat Minor version upgrades in MediaWiki typically have minimal breaking changes, but always review the release notes before upgrading. Ensure your PHP version meets the requirements of the new MediaWiki version.

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

Fix this in Mediawiki Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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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-2024-40597 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