VulnerabilityPublished 7 Nov 2024

CVE-2024-43438: moodle · Insecure Direct Object Reference

Affects moodleSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High · fixed in 4.4.2 : patch moodle soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 08:30 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 44% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 4.4.2, 4.3.6, 4.2.9 +1

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 7 Nov 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade moodle to 4.4.2, 4.3.6, 4.2.9 or 4.1.12.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
moodle	Affected <4.1.12 >=4.2 <4.2.9 >=4.3 <4.3.6 >=4.4 <4.4.2	Fixed in 4.4.2 4.3.6 4.2.9 4.1.12
GitHubmoodle`pkg:github/moodle`Other threats	Affected <4.1.12 >=4.2 <4.2.9 >=4.3 <4.3.6 >=4.4 <4.4.2	Fixed in 4.1.12 4.2.9 4.3.6 4.4.2

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2024-43438, organizations should first verify if they are running affected versions (0, 4.2, 4.3, or 4.4) of the Feedback system. Since no official patches are currently linked, immediate mitigation can include restricting network access to the Feedback system to trusted IP ranges and enforcing strict access controls to limit who can use the bulk messaging feature. Administrators should audit message recipient lists to detect any anomalies or unauthorized recipients. Implementing application-layer filtering or validation to ensure recipients belong to the intended user set can serve as a temporary workaround. Monitoring logs for unusual bulk messaging activity can help detect exploitation attempts. Organizations should engage with the vendor or community for forthcoming patches or updates and plan for timely application once available. Additionally, educating users about the sensitivity of messages sent via bulk messaging and encouraging minimal use until the vulnerability is resolved can reduce risk exposure.

Description

A flaw was found in Feedback. Bulk messaging in the activity's non-respondents report did not verify message recipients belonging to the set of users returned by the report.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-43438 is the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information due to improper recipient verification in bulk messaging. Organizations using the affected Feedback versions risk leaking confidential messages to unintended recipients, which could include internal communications, personal data, or other sensitive content. This breach of confidentiality could lead to reputational damage, regulatory penalties (especially under data protection laws like GDPR), and loss of trust among users or customers. Since the vulnerability does not affect integrity or availability, the threat is focused on data exposure rather than system disruption or data manipulation. The fact that no privileges or user interaction are required for exploitation increases the risk, as attackers can remotely trigger the flaw without authentication. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where the Feedback system is accessible over the network. The absence of known exploits in the wild provides a limited window for proactive mitigation before potential attackers develop weaponized code.

CWE-639Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #24OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The system's authorization functionality does not prevent one user from gaining access to another user's data or record by modifying the key value identifying the data.
Architecture and Design
For each and every data access, ensure that the user has sufficient privilege to access the record that is being requested.
Architecture and Design · Implementation
Make sure that the key that is used in the lookup of a specific user's record is not controllable externally by the user or that any tampering can be detected.
Architecture and Design
Use encryption in order to make it more difficult to guess other legitimate values of the key or associate a digital signature with the key so that the server can verify that there has been no tampering.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Access Control (opens in a new tab)
Authorization Testing Automation (opens in a new tab)
Cross-Site Request Forgery Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Insecure Direct Object Reference Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V4.1.2 (opens in a new tab)
V4.2.1 (opens in a new tab)
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Feb 2026, 07:45 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-639

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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