In Mahara versions prior to 24.04.10 and 25 before 25.04.1, an institution administrator or institution support administrator on a multi-tenanted site can masquerade as an institution member in an institution for which they are not an administrator, if they also have the 'Site staff' role. This vulnerability allows attackers with high privileges to impersonate other users without their consent.
With a CVSS score of 4.7, this vulnerability is classified as medium severity. Organizations should be aware that the potential risk includes unauthorized access to sensitive information, which could compromise user data and institutional integrity. Immediate action is recommended due to the potential impact this vulnerability may have if exploited.
Currently, there is no public exploit known for this vulnerability, and it is not listed in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. However, organizations should prioritize patching to mitigate any risk before exploitation becomes a reality.
Organizations should address this vulnerability in their priority patch cycle and ensure proper configurations are maintained to prevent potential exploitation by malicious actors.
Vulnerability Details
The CVE-2025-59308 vulnerability affects Mahara, specifically versions prior to 24.04.10 and 25 before 25.04.1. The vulnerability is described in detail as allowing certain administrators to masquerade as institution members, thereby gaining unauthorized access to institutional data.
The CWE classification for this vulnerability is CWE-284, indicating improper access control. This misconfiguration allows for potential privilege escalation within the system.
The attack vector is classified as network-based (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L) and requires high privileges (PR:H) to exploit, while no user interaction (UI:N) is needed. The impacts of this vulnerability are low for confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Technical Analysis
The root cause of this vulnerability lies in the misconfigured access controls for institution administrators on multi-tenanted sites. This misconfiguration allows a user with the 'Site staff' role to act as an institution member without proper authorization.
The attack vector is network-based, meaning an attacker can exploit this vulnerability remotely. The complexity of this attack is low, as it primarily relies on the existing privileges of the attacker. Privileges required for exploitation are high, as they must already possess administrative capabilities.
No user interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability, making it easier for an attacker to carry out the attack. The potential impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is low, but the risk to organizations remains significant due to the nature of unauthorized access.
Risk & Impact Analysis
The real-world deployment risk associated with CVE-2025-59308 is notable, particularly for organizations that utilize Mahara in multi-tenanted environments. The potential for unauthorized access to sensitive institutional data poses a risk that cannot be overlooked.
Organizations should recognize that the blast radius of this vulnerability could extend beyond individual institutions, impacting the overall trust and integrity of the platform. Given its medium severity, organizations should address this vulnerability promptly in their patch cycle.
The urgency to address this vulnerability is classified as medium, aligning with the CVSS score. Organizations should schedule remediation efforts to ensure their systems are protected from potential exploitation.
Exploitation Status
Signal | Status |
|---|---|
Known Exploit | No |
Public PoC | No |
Actively Exploited | No |
Ransomware Use | No |
Affected Versions
The affected versions of Mahara are any versions prior to 24.04.10 and 25 before 25.04.1. Organizations should ensure that they are running the patched versions to mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability.
Mitigation & Remediation
Organizations should prioritize patching to the latest versions of Mahara to remediate this vulnerability. The recommended versions to upgrade to are 24.04.10 or 25.04.1 and above.
If patching is not immediately possible, organizations should consider implementing configuration hardening to restrict the roles and permissions assigned to institution administrators. Network controls should also be reviewed to limit access to sensitive functionalities.
Monitoring for unusual account activity and ensuring robust logging practices can help detect unauthorized access attempts related to this vulnerability.
Organizations may consider penetration testing to validate fixes and identify other potential vulnerabilities.
Detection Guidance
Monitoring logs for unusual account behavior and access patterns can provide indicators of exploitation attempts. Organizations should be vigilant for behavioral anomalies that could suggest unauthorized access.
System changes that do not align with normal operational patterns should be thoroughly investigated to ensure that no unauthorized privileges have been granted.
AppSecure Threat Intelligence Insight
The long-term significance of CVE-2025-59308 lies in its demonstration of the risks associated with improper access controls in multi-tenanted environments. Organizations should take this as a reminder to regularly review and audit their access control policies.
This vulnerability represents a pattern of oversight that can occur when role-based access control is not adequately enforced. It serves as a lesson for security teams to implement stringent access control measures.
Organizations should integrate findings from this incident into their security training to bolster awareness of access control vulnerabilities and promote best practices in managing user roles.
Moreover, continuous learning about privilege escalation risks is crucial for organizational resilience against similar threats.
Developing a robust vulnerability management program can further help in identifying and mitigating similar vulnerabilities proactively.
Adopting a penetration testing methodology will enhance the organization's ability to uncover hidden vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
.webp)