CVE-2012-6103 in Moodle
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in user/messageselect.php in the messaging system in Moodle 2.2.x before 2.2.7, 2.3.x before 2.3.4, and 2.4.x before 2.4.1 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that send course messages.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/25/2019
The CVE-2012-6103 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw discovered in Moodle's messaging system, specifically within the user/messageselect.php component. This vulnerability affects multiple versions of the popular learning management system, including Moodle 2.2.x before 2.2.7, 2.3.x before 2.3.4, and 2.4.x before 2.4.1. The flaw stems from insufficient validation of user authentication tokens and lacks proper CSRF protection mechanisms, creating a significant security risk for educational institutions relying on Moodle for their online learning platforms.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows remote attackers to exploit the absence of anti-CSRF tokens in the messaging system's message selection functionality. When users navigate to the user/messageselect.php page, the system fails to verify that requests originate from legitimate authenticated users. This weakness enables attackers to craft malicious web pages or send specially crafted requests that can trigger course message sending operations on behalf of authenticated users. The vulnerability specifically targets the messaging system's ability to send course messages, which can be leveraged to perform unauthorized actions including sending spam messages, conducting phishing attacks, or potentially escalating privileges within the system.
The operational impact of CVE-2012-6103 extends beyond simple message manipulation, as it provides attackers with the capability to hijack user sessions and perform unauthorized actions within the Moodle environment. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to send messages to course participants, potentially including malicious links or content that could compromise user systems. The vulnerability also enables attackers to perform message flooding or spamming campaigns that could disrupt educational activities and communications within the learning management system. Given that Moodle is widely deployed in educational institutions, the potential for widespread impact is significant, as attackers could target multiple users simultaneously across different courses and learning environments.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery, and maps to several ATT&CK techniques including T1566 for phishing attacks and T1078 for valid accounts usage. The flaw demonstrates poor input validation and authentication token management practices that violate fundamental web application security principles. Organizations should immediately implement the recommended patches for Moodle versions 2.2.7, 2.3.4, and 2.4.1, while also considering additional mitigations such as implementing proper CSRF token validation, monitoring for unusual message sending patterns, and conducting regular security assessments of their Moodle installations. Network-level protections including web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems can provide additional layers of defense against exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability.