CVE-2006-4786 in Moodle
Summary
by MITRE
Moodle 1.6.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information via (1) help.php and (2) other unspecified vectors involving scheduled backups.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/08/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-4786 affects Moodle versions 1.6.1 and earlier, presenting a significant security risk through information disclosure mechanisms. This flaw enables remote attackers to extract sensitive data through multiple attack vectors, specifically targeting help.php functionality and unspecified components related to scheduled backup operations. The vulnerability represents a critical weakness in the application's access control mechanisms and data protection protocols, potentially exposing confidential information to unauthorized parties without requiring authentication or privileged access.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and insufficient output sanitization within Moodle's help system and backup scheduling components. When attackers interact with help.php, the application fails to properly restrict access to sensitive information that should only be available to authenticated users with appropriate privileges. Similarly, the unspecified vectors involving scheduled backups suggest that the backup process does not adequately protect sensitive configuration data, user credentials, or system information that might be exposed during backup operations. This represents a classic case of insufficient access controls and improper privilege management, aligning with CWE-284 which addresses improper access control issues in software systems.
The operational impact of CVE-2006-4786 extends beyond simple information disclosure, potentially enabling attackers to gather intelligence for more sophisticated attacks. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to obtain system configurations, user account details, backup file contents, or other sensitive data that could facilitate further compromise of the Moodle environment. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries can exploit this weakness from anywhere on the internet without requiring physical access to the system, making it particularly dangerous for organizations running vulnerable Moodle installations. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and demonstrates inadequate security controls in the application's information flow management.
Organizations utilizing affected Moodle versions should prioritize immediate remediation through official patches and updates provided by the Moodle development team. System administrators should implement network-level restrictions to limit access to help.php and backup-related endpoints until proper security updates are deployed. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive security auditing of all Moodle components, particularly focusing on access control mechanisms and data handling procedures. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems to monitor for exploitation attempts targeting these specific attack vectors. This vulnerability highlights the importance of regular security assessments and timely patch management, as outlined in the MITRE ATT&CK framework's defense evasion and credential access tactics, where information disclosure serves as a foundational technique for subsequent attack phases.