CVE-2012-0793 in Moodle
Summary
by MITRE
Moodle 1.9.x before 1.9.16, 2.0.x before 2.0.7, 2.1.x before 2.1.4, and 2.2.x before 2.2.1 allows remote attackers to view the profile images of arbitrary user accounts via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/06/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-0793 represents a significant authorization flaw in the Moodle learning management system that affects multiple version branches including 1.9.x through 1.9.15, 2.0.x through 2.0.6, 2.1.x through 2.1.3, and 2.2.x through 2.2.0. This issue falls under the category of improper access control as defined by CWE-284, where an attacker can bypass normal authentication and authorization mechanisms to access restricted resources. The vulnerability specifically impacts the profile image functionality within Moodle, which is a critical component for user identification and communication within educational platforms.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through unspecified vectors that allow remote attackers to retrieve profile images of arbitrary user accounts without proper authentication. This flaw enables attackers to enumerate user accounts and potentially gather sensitive information about the user base, including usernames, email addresses, and other profile details that may be associated with the profile images. The vulnerability exists at the application level where proper input validation and access control checks are missing or insufficiently implemented. Attackers can leverage this weakness to perform reconnaissance activities by accessing profile images of users they do not have legitimate access to, which can be particularly damaging in educational environments where privacy and data protection are paramount.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it can facilitate more sophisticated attacks such as social engineering campaigns, targeted phishing attempts, or user enumeration for privilege escalation attacks. The ability to view profile images of arbitrary users provides attackers with visual confirmation of user identities, which can be used to craft more convincing social engineering attacks or to identify specific targets within the user community. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and can lead to cascading security issues where attackers use the gathered information to plan more targeted attacks against specific users or the entire system. The impact is particularly concerning in academic environments where the platform may contain sensitive student and faculty information.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-0793 should include immediate deployment of the vendor patches released for Moodle versions 1.9.16, 2.0.7, 2.1.4, and 2.2.1, which address the improper access control issue in profile image handling. Organizations should implement proper input validation and access control mechanisms to ensure that users can only access profile images of accounts they are authorized to view. Network segmentation and monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual access patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1087.001 for account discovery and T1566.001 for credential access through social engineering, making it a critical vulnerability for organizations to address promptly. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar access control vulnerabilities in other components of the Moodle platform and related systems.