Moodle Project up to 5.3.0 Import Format formatbase.php path traversal

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Moodle Project Moodle up to 4.5.15/5.0.11/5.1.8/5.2.4/5.3.0. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the file public/question/format/blackboard_six/formatbase.php of the component Import Format. This manipulation causes path traversal. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-119553. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Moodle Project Moodle up to 4.5.15/5.0.11/5.1.8/5.2.4/5.3.0 and classified as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the file public/question/format/blackboard_six/formatbase.php of the component Import Format. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a path traversal vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-22. The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality. The summary by CVE is:

Moodle 5.3.0, 5.2.0 through 5.2.4, 5.1.0 through 5.1.8, 5.0.0 through 5.0.11, and through 4.5.15 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the Blackboard question import format. Teachers with question import or lesson edit rights can upload a crafted zip with img src values containing ../ sequences, copying server files like config.php into their draft area.

The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-119553 since 10/30/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/30/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1006 for this issue.

By approaching the search of inurl:public/question/format/blackboard_six/formatbase.php it is possible to find vulnerable targets with Google Hacking.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

• Project Management Software

Vendor

• Moodle Project

Name

• Moodle

Version

• 4.5.0
• 4.5.1
• 4.5.2
• 4.5.3
• 4.5.4
• 4.5.5
• 4.5.6
• 4.5.7
• 4.5.8
• 4.5.9
• 4.5.10
• 4.5.11
• 4.5.12
• 4.5.13
• 4.5.14
• 4.5.15
• 5.0
• 5.0.0
• 5.0.1
• 5.0.2
• 5.0.3
• 5.0.4
• 5.0.5
• 5.0.6
• 5.0.7
• 5.0.8
• 5.0.9
• 5.0.10
• 5.0.11
• 5.1
• 5.1.0
• 5.1.1
• 5.1.2
• 5.1.3
• 5.1.4
• 5.1.5
• 5.1.6
• 5.1.7
• 5.1.8
• 5.2
• 5.2.0
• 5.2.1
• 5.2.2
• 5.2.3
• 5.2.4
• 5.3.0

License

• open-source

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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