CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2022-44544NVD status: Modified

Mahara: Execution with Unnecessary Privileges

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2022-44544 is a critical-severity execution with unnecessary privileges vulnerability in Mahara, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 21.04.7, 21.10.5, 22.04.3 as the first without the flaw, so updating Mahara to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.92% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 61% of scored CVEs.

Patch this week

Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.

What to do

  1. Update Mahara to 21.04.7 or 21.10.5 or 22.04.3, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Read the advisory on bugs.launchpad.net for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
  3. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
MaharaMahara21.04.0 up to, but not including, 21.04.7; 21.10.0 up to, but not including, 21.10.5; 22.04.0 up to, but not including, 22.04.3; 22.10.021.04.7, 21.10.5, 22.04.3

Version data comes from NVD's product matching. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 3.19.8CriticalNVD
CVSS 3.19.8CriticalCISA (ADP)

Official description

Mahara 21.04 before 21.04.7, 21.10 before 21.10.5, 22.04 before 22.04.3, and 22.10 before 22.10.0 potentially allow a PDF export to trigger a remote shell if the site is running on Ubuntu and the flag -dSAFER is not set with Ghostscript.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Execution with Unnecessary Privileges

The product performs an operation at a privilege level that is higher than the minimum level required, which creates new weaknesses or amplifies the consequences of other weaknesses.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment. For example, database applications rarely need to run as the database administrator, especially in day-to-day operations.
  • Identify the functionality that requires additional privileges, such as access to privileged operating system resources. Wrap and centralize this functionality if possible, and isolate the privileged code as much as possible from other code. Raise privileges as late as possible, and drop them as soon as possible to avoid CWE-271. Avoid weaknesses such as CWE-288 and CWE-420 by protecting all possible communication channels that could interact with the privileged code, such as a secondary socket that is only intended to be accessed by administrators.
  • Identify the functionality that requires additional privileges, such as access to privileged operating system resources. Wrap and centralize this functionality if possible, and isolate the privileged code as much as possible from other code. Raise privileges as late as possible, and drop them as soon as possible to avoid CWE-271. Avoid weaknesses such as CWE-288 and CWE-420 by protecting all possible communication channels that could interact with the privileged code, such as a secondary socket that is only intended to be accessed by administrators.

More Execution with Unnecessary Privileges vulnerabilities (CWE-250)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in Mahara

All Mahara vulnerabilities

Recent Execution with Unnecessary Privileges vulnerabilities

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