CVE-2011-4298 in Moodle
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in mod/wiki/ components in Moodle 2.0.x before 2.0.5 and 2.1.x before 2.1.2 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that modify wiki data.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/05/2021
The CVE-2011-4298 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw affecting Moodle's wiki module components. This vulnerability exists within Moodle versions 2.0.x prior to 2.0.5 and 2.1.x prior to 2.1.2, creating a significant security risk for educational institutions relying on this learning management system. The flaw enables remote attackers to manipulate wiki data through forged requests that appear to originate from authenticated users, effectively bypassing the authentication mechanisms that should protect against unauthorized modifications.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper request validation mechanisms within the mod/wiki components. When users access wiki pages, the system should verify that requests are legitimate and originate from authenticated sessions. However, the vulnerability allows attackers to craft malicious requests that exploit the trust relationship between the web application and legitimate users. These forged requests can modify wiki content, create new pages, or alter existing wiki data without proper authorization, as the system fails to validate the authenticity of the request source.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses severe risks to educational institutions using Moodle platforms. Attackers could exploit this flaw to inject malicious content into wiki pages, potentially spreading malware or conducting social engineering attacks through compromised educational content. The impact extends beyond simple data modification, as wiki content often serves as collaborative learning resources, making unauthorized changes particularly damaging to educational integrity. Additionally, the vulnerability could enable attackers to create backdoor access points or establish persistent malicious presence within the learning management system.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in web applications. This classification emphasizes the fundamental flaw in the application's request handling mechanism where the system fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate authenticated users. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1566, which covers credential harvesting through social engineering techniques, and T1078, which involves valid accounts usage for persistence and privilege escalation. Organizations should implement proper input validation and implement anti-CSRF tokens for all state-changing operations within the wiki module.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of affected Moodle versions to the recommended secure releases. Organizations must also implement additional security controls such as CSRF token validation mechanisms, session management improvements, and regular security audits of web applications. Network-level protections including web application firewalls can provide additional defense-in-depth measures, while user education regarding suspicious link behavior can help reduce successful exploitation attempts. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other components of the Moodle platform or related systems. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing comprehensive security controls across all web application components.