CVE-2017-2576 Moodle CVE debrief

Who should care

Moodle administrators and developers who maintain forum functionality or run affected Moodle 2.x/3.x deployments should prioritize this issue, especially if their sites accept user-generated forum content.

Technical summary

The NVD record describes incorrect sanitization of attributes in Moodle forums. Its CVSS vector is AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N, indicating network-reachable exploitation with no privileges or user interaction required and a limited integrity impact. NVD maps vulnerable CPEs across Moodle 2.x and 3.x, including entries through 2.7.17, 2.8.x, 2.9.x, 3.0.x, 3.1.x, and 3.2.0.

Defensive priority

Medium. The issue is network-reachable and unauthenticated, but the recorded impact is limited to integrity. It still warrants prompt patching because it affects common forum functionality in multiple Moodle release lines.

Recommended defensive actions

• Apply the Moodle vendor patch or upgrade to a fixed release referenced by the vendor advisory.
• Review forum rendering and attribute validation paths in any custom plugins or theme overrides.
• Use the NVD and vendor references to confirm whether your deployed Moodle version falls within the affected release set.
• Check forum content workflows for unexpected attribute handling and remove unsafe content if needed.
• Track the third-party advisory for additional remediation context and confirm your instance is no longer listed in the affected versions.

Evidence notes

The debrief is based on the official NVD CVE record and the vendor reference linked from the NVD entry. NVD states the vulnerability is incorrect sanitization of attributes in Moodle forums, assigns CVSS 3.0 5.3, maps CWE-20, and lists vulnerable Moodle CPEs. The vendor reference points to a Moodle forum advisory and patch discussion.

Official resources