Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-3642

RCE in Moodle ≤ 4.1.18

Published
25 April 2025
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0095 58th percentile
Risk Priority 67 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-3642 is a high-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Moodle Moodle. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 42% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

A flaw was found in Moodle LMS involving the EQUELLA repository plugin, where improper control of code generation enables remote code execution. The issue is tracked as CVE-2025-3642 with a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8 and is classified under CWE-94. It affects Moodle sites that have the EQUELLA repository enabled, and by default the affected functionality is restricted to teachers and managers.

Authenticated users in those roles can exploit the vulnerability over the network to execute arbitrary code on the server, potentially leading to full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The attack requires low complexity and no user interaction beyond the attacker's existing privileges.

Advisories from Red Hat and the Moodle project, including the linked CVE entry, bugzilla report, and forum discussion, provide details on the issue and direct administrators to apply available updates or configuration changes to mitigate exposure.

The EPSS score for this CVE rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.0139, indicating that exploitation interest emerged after disclosure and that the vulnerability warrants renewed attention.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A flaw was found in Moodle. A remote code execution risk was identified in the Moodle LMS EQUELLA repository. By default, this was only available to teachers and managers on sites with the EQUELLA repository enabled.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.002 AppleScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse AppleScript for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.005 Visual Basic Execution
Adversaries may abuse Visual Basic (VB) for execution.
T1059.006 Python Execution
Adversaries may abuse Python commands and scripts for execution.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-43425Same product: Moodle Moodle
CVE-2025-3641Same product: Moodle Moodle
CVE-2024-28593Same product: Moodle Moodle
CVE-2026-26045Same product: Moodle Moodle
CVE-2025-67847Same product: Moodle Moodle
CVE-2026-26046Same product: Moodle Moodle
CVE-2023-28333Same product: Moodle Moodle
CVE-2024-43426Same product: Moodle Moodle
CVE-2024-34009Same product: Moodle Moodle
CVE-2023-28330Same product: Moodle Moodle

Affected Assets

moodle
moodle
≤ 4.1.18 · 4.3.0 — 4.3.12 · 4.4.0 — 4.4.8

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.3.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation finds code paths that accept and execute externally influenced strings.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from being used to construct executable code without neutralization.

Least privilege limits the damage an injected code fragment can perform once executed.

Requiring documented secure development standards and tools enforces use of safe code-generation APIs and escaping.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

prevents

Banning unapproved code samples and unauthenticated web services, combined with secure-coding standards and SAST, prevents the dynamic generation or inclusion of attacker-supplied code.

none

Controls that restrict unauthorized or malicious code from being introduced via external networks or removable media limit opportunities for an attacker to inject and execute arbitrary code.

References