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MoodleCMS

CVE-2024-43431

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 vulnerability was found in Moodle. Insufficient capability checks made it possible to delete badges that a user does not have permission to access.

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

Moodle fails to enforce proper capability checks before allowing badge deletion, allowing authenticated users to delete badges they do not own or have permission to manage. This is an authorization bypass via insufficient access control validation.

MitigationApply the Moodle security patch that implements proper capability verification before allowing badge deletion operations.

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:< 4.1.12>= 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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 your Moodle version
    Access the Site Administration > Server > Environment page or check the version.php file in your Moodle root directory (look for $version variable). You can also use the CLI: php admin/cli/upgrade.php --check-version 2>/dev/null || grep '$version' version.php
    Affected if The installed version falls within < 4.1.12, >= 4.2.0 and < 4.2.9, >= 4.3.0 and < 4.3.6, or >= 4.4.0 and < 4.4.2
  2. Verify the badge module is enabled
    Navigate to Site Administration > Plugins > Plugins overview and search for the 'Badges' plugin, or check your database in the mdl_config table for plugins with 'badge' in the name and confirm they are enabled
    Affected if The badge module is enabled and users have access to the badge functionality
  3. Identify users with badge creation capabilities
    Check Site Administration > Users > Permissions > Assign system roles and review which roles have the 'moodle/badge:create' or 'moodle/badge:manage' capabilities. Also check course-specific role assignments where badges may be awarded
    Affected if Multiple users or roles exist with badge creation privileges beyond your administrative team
  4. Review badge deletion activity in logs
    Access Site Administration > Reports > Logs and filter for events containing 'badge' and 'delete' actions. Look for deletions where the user deleting differs from the badge creator or where the user lacks manage privileges on that badge
    Affected if Deletions appear in logs performed by users who should not have had permission to delete those specific badges

You are affected if your installed Moodle version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND the badge module is enabled with users who have badge creation capabilities.

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

Apply the Moodle security patch that implements proper capability verification before allowing badge deletion operations.

Recommended fix High confidence

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

  1. 1. Back up your Moodle database and moodledata directory before proceeding with any upgrade.
  2. 2. Review the official Moodle release notes for your target version to understand changes and requirements.
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed Moodle version for your branch (4.1.12, 4.2.9, 4.3.6, or 4.4.2).
  4. 4. Place your Moodle site into maintenance mode via Site Administration > Server > Maintenance Mode.
  5. 5. Replace the Moodle codebase with the new version files, preserving your config.php and any custom modifications.
  6. 6. Run the upgrade process by accessing the site URL - the database upgrade will execute automatically.
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade completed successfully by logging in and checking the site administration notifications.
  8. 8. Test badge functionality to ensure the capability checks are working correctly.
Caveat Standard Moodle minor version upgrades typically have minimal breaking changes, but review release notes for any deprecated features or behavior changes specific to your version

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

Fix this in Moodle Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,880
Get the upgrade done

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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-2024-43431 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