How severe is CVE-2020-14321?

CVE-2020-14321 has a CVSS score of 8.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-14321?

CVE-2020-14321 affects the following packages: moodle/moodle (Packagist), moodle/moodle (Packagist), moodle/moodle (Packagist), moodle/moodle (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix CVE-2020-14321?

Update moodle/moodle to 3.9.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-14321 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-14321 in my Packagist dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for moodle/moodle, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-14321 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.

Is CVE-2020-14321 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 5 known exploit references for CVE-2020-14321, including 3 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-14321?

CVE-2020-14321 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 16.0%, placing it in the 97th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score warrants monitoring and prompt remediation.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2020-14321?

CVE-2020-14321 is classified as CWE-863 (CWE-863). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Is there exploit tooling available for CVE-2020-14321?

A Metasploit module references CVE-2020-14321, which lowers the barrier to weaponization. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was CVE-2020-14321 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-14321 was published on August 16, 2022 and was last updated on October 24, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐘

🐘 Packagist

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2020-14321 — moodle

HIGHFix: moodle/moodle@d07fb8b

CVE-2020-14321 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-863 vulnerability in moodle/moodle. 5 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for moodle/moodle — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Moodle Incorrect Authorization vulnerability

Also known asBIT-moodle-2020-14321GHSA-9q29-jcjw-fw7h

Published

Aug 16, 2022

Updated

Oct 24, 2026

Affected

4 pkgs

Patched

4 / 4

Exploits

5 known

Exploitation data as of Nov 9, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

16.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Moderate Risk-0.19%

Lower risk than most CVEs97th percentile — riskier than 97% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

4 pkgs affected

🐘moodle/moodle🐘moodle/moodle🐘moodle/moodle🐘moodle/moodle

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

In Moodle before 3.9.1, 3.8.4, 3.7.7 and 3.5.13, teachers of a course were able to assign themselves the manager role within that course.

Affected Packages

4 total 4 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`moodle/moodle`	≥ 3.9.0-beta&&< 3.9.1	3.9.1`composer require moodle/moodle:^3.9.1`
🐘Packagist	`moodle/moodle`	≥ 3.8.0-beta&&< 3.8.4	3.8.4`composer require moodle/moodle:^3.8.4`
🐘Packagist	`moodle/moodle`	≥ 3.6.0-beta&&< 3.7.7	3.7.7`composer require moodle/moodle:^3.7.7`
🐘Packagist	`moodle/moodle`	all versions	3.5.13`composer require moodle/moodle:^3.5.13`

Affected Products

1 product · 4 configurations

Application

moodlemoodle

≥ 3.8.0 && < 3.8.4

1 version

3.9.0

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

In Moodle before 3.9.1, 3.8.4, 3.7.7 and 3.5.13, teachers of a course we…

github.comGithubJul 2020

Report on github.com

github.comGithubApr 2021

Report on github.com

github.comMetasploitOct 2021

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for moodle/moodle, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update moodle/moodle to 3.9.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-14321 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.

Frequently Asked Questions

In Moodle before 3.9.1, 3.8.4, 3.7.7 and 3.5.13, teachers of a course were able to assign themselves the manager role within that course.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2020-14321 in your dependencies?

Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

8.8/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Raw vector

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

CWE Classification

Weaponization

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

moodle

3.4/10

Code-Review0/10

Maintained10/10

Branch-Protection0/10

Assessed Oct 26, 2026

Timeline

First exploit

Jul 26, 2020

Disclosed

Aug 16, 2022

Last updated

Oct 24, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2020-14321

GHSA-9q29-jcjw-fw7h

BIT-moodle-2020-14321

References

Advisorynvd.nist.gov · CVE 2020 14321 Fixmoodle.org · discuss Webgithub.com · d07fb8b9e8bf47fe60ad2aea553329bd1fb96e37 Packagegithub.com · moodle

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is high severity; 5 of 8 other CVEs affecting moodle/moodle are rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2026-26047CVE-2026-26045CVE-2025-67853CVE-2025-67850CVE-2025-67857CVE-2025-67856CVE-2025-67848CVE-2025-67849

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedOct 24, 2026

CVE-2020-14321 — moodle

EPSS Exploitation Probability

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

Description

Affected Packages

Affected Products

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Fix

Workarounds

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CVE-2020-14321 in your dependencies?