CVE-2012-1155
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2012-1155 is an information disclosure vulnerability in Moodle's database activity module. It allows authenticated users to export all database entries, including those from groups they don't belong to, violating intended access controls. This affects Moodle installations with database activity modules enabled.
💻 Affected Systems
- Moodle
📦 What is this software?
Fedora by Fedoraproject
Fedora by Fedoraproject
Fedora by Fedoraproject
Moodle by Moodle
Moodle by Moodle
Moodle by Moodle
Moodle by Moodle
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Unauthorized access to sensitive student data, course materials, or private information across all groups in the Moodle instance, potentially violating privacy regulations.
Likely Case
Students or teachers accessing restricted group data they shouldn't see, compromising academic integrity and privacy.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper group permissions and monitoring, though some data exposure may still occur.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access to Moodle with database module permissions. The vulnerability is straightforward to exploit once authenticated.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Moodle 2.2.2 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=204013
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Backup your Moodle installation and database. 2. Upgrade to Moodle 2.2.2 or later. 3. Apply the patch for the database activity module. 4. Verify group permissions are correctly configured.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Database Activity Module
allTemporarily disable the database activity module to prevent exploitation.
Navigate to Site administration > Plugins > Activity modules > Database and disable the module
Restrict Database Export Permissions
allLimit export capabilities to trusted administrators only.
Adjust role permissions in Moodle to remove export capabilities from non-admin users
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls and monitor database activity exports
- Segment users into separate Moodle instances based on sensitivity requirements
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Moodle version via Site administration > Notifications page. If version is earlier than 2.2.2 and database module is enabled, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Check Moodle version in admin panel or via moodle/config.php version variableVerify Fix Applied:
After patching, test with a non-admin user attempting to export database entries from groups they don't belong to - should be denied.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual database export activities from non-admin users
- Multiple export requests from single user across different groups
Network Indicators:
- Large data exports from Moodle database endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="moodle_logs" AND (event="database_export" OR action="export") AND user_role!="admin"🔗 References
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2012-April/077635.html
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2012-April/078209.html
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2012-April/078210.html
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2012-May/080712.html
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2012-May/081047.html
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2012-1155
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2012-1155
- https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=198621
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2012-1155
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2012-April/077635.html
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2012-April/078209.html
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2012-April/078210.html
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2012-May/080712.html
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2012-May/081047.html
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2012-1155
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2012-1155
- https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=198621
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2012-1155
