CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2024-39335NVD status: Analyzed

Mahara: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2024-39335 is a critical-severity exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor vulnerability in Mahara, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1 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 23.04.6, 24.04.1 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 0.32% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Patch this week

Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.

What to do

  1. Update Mahara to 23.04.6 or 24.04.1, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Read the advisory on mahara.org 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
MaharaMahara23.04.0 up to, but not including, 23.04.6; 24.04.0 up to, but not including, 24.04.123.04.6, 24.04.1

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
NoneAvailability is not affected.

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

Official description

Supported versions of Mahara 24.04 before 24.04.1 and 23.04 before 23.04.6 are vulnerable to information being disclosed to an institution administrator under certain conditions via the 'Current submissions' page: Administration -> Groups -> Submissions.

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

  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 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerabilities

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