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CVE-2026-42162 – Broken Access Control / Sensitive File Disclosure – Mahara before 25.04.5 and 26.04

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Summary

CVE-2026-42162 is a path traversal / incorrect access control vulnerability in Mahara, the open-source ePortfolio platform. By manipulating the file path to an artefact referenced in a Mahara page, an unauthenticated remote attacker can cause artefacts (files) belonging to one account holder to become accessible to another party under certain circumstances. The issue is rated CRITICAL with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.1.

Technical details

  • Root cause: improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory (CWE-22) when resolving the file path to an artefact embedded in a Mahara page.
  • Trigger condition: an attacker manipulates the file path referencing an artefact within a page, causing the application to serve an artefact that should belong to a different account holder.
  • Attack vector: network-based, requires no privileges and no user interaction (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N).
  • Impact: high confidentiality impact and high integrity impact, with no reported impact on availability — resulting in unauthorized disclosure and potential exposure of files/artefacts belonging to other users.

Affected software

  • Mahara versions prior to 25.04.5
  • Mahara version 26.04.0

Severity

  • CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 9.1 (Critical)
  • Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Upgrade to Mahara 25.04.5 or later, or to Mahara 26.04.0-fixed release (per the official Mahara security announcement), whichever branch is in use.
  • For deployments on unsupported Mahara release lines, upgrade to a currently supported release before applying the fix.
  • If immediate patching is not possible, restrict external network access to the Mahara instance and review artefact/file access logs for anomalous path manipulation attempts referencing artefacts in pages.
  • Subscribers to Mahara extended security support should consult their support provider for backported fixes on unsupported branches.

References

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