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MoodleCMS

CVE-2024-43438

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 Feedback. Bulk messaging in the activity's non-respondents report did not verify message recipients belonging to the set of users returned by the report.

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

This is an authorization bypass vulnerability in the Feedback component's bulk messaging feature for activity non-respondents reports. The system fails to validate that message recipients belong to the filtered set of users returned by the report query before sending bulk messages, potentially allowing unauthorized messages to be sent to users outside the intended non-respondent group.

MitigationImplement server-side authorization checks to verify that all message recipients are explicitly included in the filtered non-respondents dataset before executing bulk message 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:>= 4.1.0, < 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. Verify Moodle version is within affected range
    Navigate to Site Administration > Server > System paths or check the version.php file in the Moodle root directory to determine the installed Moodle version
    Affected if The installed version is >= 4.1.0 and < 4.1.12, OR >= 4.2.0 and < 4.2.9, OR >= 4.3.0 and < 4.3.6, OR >= 4.4.0 and < 4.4.2
  2. Confirm Feedback activity module is in use
    Check Site Administration > Plugins > Activity modules for the presence of the Feedback module, or search for any course that contains a Feedback activity instance
    Affected if The Feedback activity module is installed and there are Feedback activities created in any course
  3. Identify non-respondent reports in Feedback activities
    Access each Feedback activity settings and look for the 'Non-respondents' report option under the report or analysis section
    Affected if Any Feedback activity has non-respondent reports generated or accessible
  4. Check for bulk messaging usage to non-respondents
    Review Feedback activity settings for bulk messaging options, specifically looking for the ability to send messages to non-respondents from the report view
    Affected if The bulk messaging feature to non-respondents has been accessed or used in any Feedback activity

A Moodle instance is affected if it runs an affected 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 Feedback activities with non-respondent reports where bulk messaging has been or could be used.

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

Implement server-side authorization checks to verify that all message recipients are explicitly included in the filtered non-respondents dataset before executing bulk message operations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Moodle 4.1.12, 4.2.9, 4.3.6, or 4.4.2 (or latest stable 4.4.x recommended)

  1. 1. Back up your Moodle database and file repository (moodledata directory) before proceeding.
  2. 2. Put your Moodle site into Maintenance mode to prevent user activity during the upgrade.
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed version of Moodle from moodle.org (select the version matching your current branch: 4.1.12, 4.2.9, 4.3.6, or 4.4.2).
  4. 4. Replace the existing Moodle code directory with the new version files, preserving your config.php file.
  5. 5. Navigate to your site URL to trigger the database upgrade process (or run php admin/cli/upgrade.php from the command line).
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade completed successfully by checking the site administration > Server > Environment page for the new version number.
  7. 7. Test the Feedback activity functionality, specifically the non-respondents report and bulk messaging feature.
  8. 8. Disable Maintenance mode once testing is complete.
Caveat Moodle minor upgrades typically have minimal breaking changes; review the release notes for your target version for any notable changes to the Feedback module or permissions.

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-2024-43438 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