CVE-2024-47853
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows attackers to escalate privileges when logging into Mahara using Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI). Attackers could gain unauthorized access to higher-privileged accounts or functions. This affects Mahara installations using LTI authentication.
💻 Affected Systems
- Mahara
📦 What is this software?
Mahara by Mahara
Mahara by Mahara
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers gain administrative access to the Mahara system, allowing them to compromise all user accounts, steal sensitive data, and modify system configurations.
Likely Case
Attackers gain elevated privileges to access restricted content, modify user profiles, or perform unauthorized actions within the platform.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper access controls, monitoring, and network segmentation in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires LTI authentication access. Attack complexity depends on LTI configuration and implementation details.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Versions after 23.04.8 and 24.04.4
Vendor Advisory: https://mahara.org/interaction/forum/topic.php?id=9594
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Backup your Mahara installation and database. 2. Update to the latest patched version of Mahara. 3. Verify LTI configuration is properly secured. 4. Test authentication functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable LTI Authentication
allTemporarily disable LTI authentication until patching is complete
Modify Mahara configuration to disable LTI authentication modules
Restrict LTI Access
allLimit LTI authentication to trusted sources only
Configure firewall rules to restrict LTI endpoint access to trusted IPs
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate Mahara servers
- Enable detailed logging and monitoring of all LTI authentication attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Mahara version in admin panel or via version.php file. If version is exactly 23.04.8 or 24.04.4 and LTI is enabled, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Check Mahara admin panel or examine version.php file in installation directoryVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Mahara version is updated beyond 23.04.8 or 24.04.4 and test LTI authentication functionality.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual LTI authentication patterns
- Multiple failed LTI login attempts followed by successful escalation
- User privilege changes via LTI authentication
Network Indicators:
- Unusual traffic to LTI endpoints from unexpected sources
- Authentication requests with suspicious parameters
SIEM Query:
source="mahara_logs" AND (event="lti_auth" OR event="privilege_escalation")