Vulnerability in Mahara (CVE-2017-14163)
Summary
Vulnerability in Mahara (CVE-2017-14163). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
An issue was discovered in Mahara before 15.04.14, 16.x before 16.04.8, 16.10.x before 16.10.5, and 17.x before 17.04.3. When one closes the browser without logging out of Mahara, the value in the usr_session table is not removed. If someone were to open a browser, visit the Mahara site, and adjust the 'mahara' cookie to the old value, they can get access to the user's account.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2017-14163 has been found in Mahara.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 8.8/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Mahara CVE-2017-14163" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2017-14163 (Mahara) — CWE-384 / CVSS v3 8.8
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / no user interaction
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-384) exists in Mahara.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Mahara.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.8/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'Mahara' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'Mahara' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
Maharaを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
References
- patch bugs.launchpad.net