CVE-2020-25701 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) CWE-284 vulnerability in moodle/moodle. A fix is available for moodle/moodle — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Privilage Escalation in moodle
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-25701 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
moodle/moodle🐘moodle/moodle🐘moodle/moodle🐘moodle/moodleReal-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
If the upload course tool in Moodle was used to delete an enrollment method which did not exist or was not already enabled, the tool would erroneously enable that enrollment method. This could lead to unintended users gaining access to the course. Versions affected: 3.9 to 3.9.2, 3.8 to 3.8.5, 3.7 to 3.7.8, 3.5 to 3.5.14 and earlier unsupported versions. This is fixed in moodle 3.9.3, 3.8.6, 3.7.9, 3.5.15, and 3.10.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | moodle/moodle | ≥ 3.9.0&&< 3.9.3 | 3.9.3composer require moodle/moodle:^3.9.3 |
| 🐘Packagist | moodle/moodle | ≥ 3.8.0&&< 3.8.6 | 3.8.6composer require moodle/moodle:^3.8.6 |
| 🐘Packagist | moodle/moodle | ≥ 3.7.0&&< 3.7.9 | 3.7.9composer require moodle/moodle:^3.7.9 |
| 🐘Packagist | moodle/moodle | ≥ 3.5&&< 3.5.15 | 3.5.15composer require moodle/moodle:^3.5.15 |
Affected Products
fedorafedoraprojectmoodlemoodleDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
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 3.9.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-25701 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
Is CVE-2020-25701 in your dependencies?
Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.