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MoodleCMS

CVE-2024-43426

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.1.12 / 4.2.9 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
A flaw was found in pdfTeX. Insufficient sanitizing in the TeX notation filter resulted in an arbitrary file read risk on sites where pdfTeX is available, such as those with TeX Live installed.

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 · moderate confidence

A file read vulnerability exists in pdfTeX due to insufficient input sanitization in its TeX notation filter. Attackers can exploit this to read arbitrary files on systems where pdfTeX is installed, such as those with TeX Live.

MitigationRestrict or disable pdfTeX execution in web-facing environments until an official patch is available; implement strict input validation on the TeX notation filter.

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
Affected:>= 4.1.0, < 4.1.12>= 4.2.0, < 4.2.9>= 4.3.0, < 4.3.6>= 4.4.0, < 4.4.2

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 Moodle version
    Log into Moodle as admin, go to Site administration > Server > PHP info, or check the version file in the Moodle root directory (version.php contains $release or $version variables). Alternatively, check the footer of any Moodle page.
    Affected if The installed version falls within: 4.1.0 to 4.1.11, 4.2.0 to 4.2.8, 4.3.0 to 4.3.5, or 4.4.0 to 4.4.1
  2. Verify TeX notation filter is enabled
    Go to Site administration > Plugins > Filters > Manage filters. Check if the TeX notation filter (or LaTeX filter) is set to 'Enabled' and 'On' for content.
    Affected if The TeX/LaTeX notation filter is enabled and active
  3. Confirm pdfTeX is installed
    Check if pdfTeX is available on the server by running 'pdflatex --version' or 'which pdflatex' in the command line, or inspect the TeX filter configuration to see which TeX engine is selected.
    Affected if pdfTeX is installed and configured as the TeX engine for Moodle's filter

A Moodle instance is affected if it runs a vulnerable version (4.1.0-4.1.11, 4.2.0-4.2.8, 4.3.0-4.3.5, or 4.4.0-4.4.1) AND has the TeX notation filter enabled with pdfTeX available on 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 4.1.12 / 4.2.9 / 4.3.6 or later
Fixed in 4.1.124.2.94.3.6
Interim mitigation

Restrict or disable pdfTeX execution in web-facing environments until an official patch is available; implement strict input validation on the TeX notation filter.

Recommended fix High confidence

Moodle 4.1.12, 4.2.9, 4.3.6, or 4.4.2 (depending on your current branch)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Moodle version by checking the version.php file or admin dashboard
  2. 2. Determine which version branch you are running (4.1.x, 4.2.x, 4.3.x, or 4.4.x)
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed version from moodle.org: 4.1.12 for 4.1.x, 4.2.9 for 4.2.x, 4.3.6 for 4.3.x, or 4.4.2 for 4.4.x
  4. 4. Back up the Moodle database and the entire moodledata directory before proceeding
  5. 5. Back up the Moodle source code directory
  6. 6. Place the site in maintenance mode via Site administration > Server > Maintenance mode
  7. 7. Extract the new Moodle files, overwriting the existing installation
  8. 8. Run the Moodle upgrade script by accessing the site URL or via CLI: php admin/cli/upgrade.php
Caveat Minor patch releases typically have minimal breaking changes; however, always review the release notes for your target version before upgrading

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

Fix this in Moodle Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2024-43426 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