Mahara: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
CVE-2023-47799 is a high-severity exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor vulnerability in Mahara, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 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 22.10.4, 23.04.4 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 0.41% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Mahara to 22.10.4 or 23.04.4, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Read the advisory on mahara.org for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mahara | Mahara | before 22.10.4; 23.04.0 up to, but not including, 23.04.4 | 22.10.4, 23.04.4 |
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
- NoneNothing can be modified.
- Availability
- NoneAvailability is not affected.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N. Scored by CISA (ADP).
Official description
Mahara before 22.10.4 and 23.x before 23.04.4 allows information disclosure if the experimental HTML bulk export is used via the administration interface or via the CLI, and the resulting export files are given to the account holders. They may contain images of other account holders because the cache is not cleared after the files of one account are exported.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Compartmentalize the system to have safe areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
More Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerabilities (CWE-200)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other vulnerabilities in Mahara
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
Recent Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerabilities
- 9.3 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.5 High severity
- 8.2 High severity
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